Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $1,126.00 target price on the Internet television network’s stock.

NFLX has been the topic of several other research reports. Arete Research raised shares of Netflix to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Netflix in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Macquarie upped their price target on Netflix from $965.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Netflix from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $975.00 to $1,200.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Netflix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Netflix currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,020.63.

Netflix Price Performance

NFLX opened at $973.03 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $955.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $889.98. Netflix has a 12-month low of $542.01 and a 12-month high of $1,064.50. The firm has a market cap of $416.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.07, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The Internet television network reported $6.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.74 by $0.87. The company had revenue of $10.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.51 billion. Netflix had a net margin of 22.34% and a return on equity of 38.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $8.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Netflix will post 24.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Netflix

In related news, CAO Jeffrey William Karbowski sold 480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $986.75, for a total value of $473,640.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider David A. Hyman sold 41,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $979.01, for a total value of $40,257,870.21. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,946,506.10. The trade was a 56.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 274,312 shares of company stock valued at $267,919,297 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Netflix

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Netflix by 109,524.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,835,722 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $8,239,576,000 after buying an additional 8,827,662 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Netflix in the fourth quarter valued at $5,019,087,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Netflix by 123,836.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,925,977 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $1,716,662,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,423 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Netflix by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,301,098 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $2,051,016,000 after buying an additional 856,307 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Netflix by 318.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 976,924 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $870,752,000 after buying an additional 743,724 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.