Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Stock Rating Lowered by Evercore

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) was downgraded by investment analysts at Evercore from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Roku from $137.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut Roku from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research cut Roku from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Roku from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners set a $155.00 target price on Roku in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Roku has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.71.

Roku Price Performance

Shares of Roku stock opened at $137.95 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.72 and a beta of 2.06. Roku has a one year low of $77.64 and a one year high of $148.88.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Roku had a return on equity of 7.64% and a net margin of 4.06%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.19) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Roku will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charles Collier sold 20,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.94, for a total value of $2,565,892.78. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,899,088. This represents a 57.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $3,250,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 713,194 shares of company stock valued at $81,763,589 over the last 90 days. 13.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Roku

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Roku by 680.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Roku in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Bayban boosted its holdings in Roku by 1,300.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Roku in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Roku in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 86.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Roku

Here are the key news stories impacting Roku this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fox agreed to buy Roku (ROKU) for about $22 billion, valuing shares at $160 each and giving Roku holders cash plus Fox stock; the deal has driven takeover speculation and a higher valuation for the company. Fox to buy Roku in $22 billion deal
• Positive Sentiment: Several Wall Street firms raised or reiterated bullish views on Roku (ROKU), including higher price targets around $160 to $175, supporting the stock after the acquisition news. Analyst updates on Roku
• Neutral Sentiment: Law firms have begun investigating whether the proposed Fox deal gives Roku (ROKU) shareholders a fair price, which adds some uncertainty but does not change the deal terms yet. Fairness investigation into Roku sale
• Negative Sentiment: Roku CFO Dan Jedda sold 7,000 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan, which may weigh on sentiment even though the sale was disclosed as routine. Roku insider sale

About Roku

Roku, Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) is a technology company that develops and operates a proprietary streaming platform designed to deliver entertainment content to consumers via internet-connected devices and smart televisions. Since its inception in 2002 in California, Roku has focused on simplifying access to streaming services for viewers worldwide. The company’s platform enables users to discover, access and manage a wide array of over-the-top content from major streaming services, free ad-supported channels and niche providers.

At the core of Roku’s product lineup are a range of streaming players and sticks, which connect to televisions via HDMI and deliver the Roku OS experience.