Netflix’s (NFLX) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Benchmark in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports.

NFLX has been the topic of several other reports. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Netflix from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Netflix from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Netflix from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Netflix from $1,210.00 to $1,222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,200.00 target price (up from $1,175.00) on shares of Netflix in a research note on Friday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,066.24.

Netflix Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NFLX traded up $9.57 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $982.60. The stock had a trading volume of 2,916,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,671,478. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $954.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $894.38. Netflix has a 12 month low of $542.01 and a 12 month high of $1,064.50. The company has a market cap of $420.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.63, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.55.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The Internet television network reported $6.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.74 by $0.87. The business had revenue of $10.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.51 billion. Netflix had a net margin of 22.34% and a return on equity of 38.32%. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Netflix will post 24.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gregory K. Peters sold 4,939 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,030.00, for a total value of $5,087,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,950 shares in the company, valued at $13,338,500. This represents a 27.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David A. Hyman sold 41,121 shares of Netflix stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $979.01, for a total transaction of $40,257,870.21. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,946,506.10. This represents a 56.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 274,312 shares of company stock worth $267,919,297 over the last 90 days. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Netflix

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NFLX. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Netflix by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 848,150 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $760,918,000 after acquiring an additional 156,958 shares during the period. First National Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Netflix by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 1,258 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Haven Private LLC bought a new position in Netflix in the 4th quarter valued at $733,000. Sigma Planning Corp increased its stake in Netflix by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 5,572 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $4,966,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, Quilter Plc boosted its stake in shares of Netflix by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 143,757 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $128,133,000 after purchasing an additional 10,946 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Netflix

Netflix, Inc provides entertainment services. It offers TV series, documentaries, feature films, and games across various genres and languages. The company also provides members the ability to receive streaming content through a host of internet-connected devices, including TVs, digital video players, TV set-top boxes, and mobile devices.