Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) Shares Gap Up to $34.96

Roblox Co. (NYSE:RBLX) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $34.96, but opened at $36.42. Roblox shares last traded at $37.35, with a volume of 2,530,168 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on RBLX. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Roblox from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $35.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Roblox in a report on Tuesday. Barclays raised shares of Roblox from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $26.00 to $46.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Roblox from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Roblox in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.60.

Roblox Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.84 and its 200-day moving average is $38.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.64, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported ($0.52) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Roblox had a negative net margin of 41.15% and a negative return on equity of 770.71%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.48) EPS. Roblox’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Roblox Co. will post -2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mark Reinstra sold 12,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.75, for a total transaction of $510,638.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 249,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,178,494.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Amy Marie Rawlings sold 3,777 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.64, for a total value of $153,497.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,906,520. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark Reinstra sold 12,531 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.75, for a total transaction of $510,638.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 249,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,178,494.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 699,374 shares of company stock worth $29,183,298. Corporate insiders own 22.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Roblox

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RBLX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Roblox by 29.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,593,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,291,414,000 after purchasing an additional 10,025,779 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in Roblox by 158.0% during the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 9,151,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,035,000 after acquiring an additional 5,604,995 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Roblox by 195.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,809,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,043,000 after acquiring an additional 5,162,833 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Roblox by 13.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 41,014,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,187,769,000 after acquiring an additional 4,927,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Roblox during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,194,000. 91.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Roblox Company Profile

Roblox Corporation develops and operates an online entertainment platform in the United States and internationally. It offers Roblox Studio, a free toolset that allows developers and creators to build, publish, and operate 3D experiences, and other content; Roblox Client, an application that allows users to explore 3D experience; and Roblox Cloud, which provides services and infrastructure that power the platform.