Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Trading Up 20.1% – Here’s Why

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU)’s share price rose 20.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $148.88 and last traded at $143.66. Approximately 14,896,569 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 374% from the average daily volume of 3,144,115 shares. The stock had previously closed at $119.64.

Roku News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Roku this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Roku is reportedly in sale talks, including a possible media tie-up, which could signal a strategic transaction or premium valuation if a deal materializes. Roku said to be in sale talks, including likely media tie-up, Bloomberg News reports
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI raised its price target to $185 from $160 and kept a bullish rating, reinforcing optimism around Roku’s monetization efforts in its home screen and advertising-tech initiatives. Roku shares jump as fresh bullish analyst notes extend recent price-target hikes
• Positive Sentiment: Additional recent price-target hikes from firms like Morgan Stanley have added to the bullish analyst narrative, suggesting Wall Street sees more upside in Roku’s ad and platform strategy. Roku shares jump as fresh bullish analyst notes extend recent price-target hikes
• Neutral Sentiment: Several media stories highlighted Roku’s expanding free channels and consumer product discounts, but these appear more promotional than material fundamental catalysts. Roku Quietly Added Four New Free Channels For The Month Of June
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Anthony Wood sold 18,000 shares in a pre-arranged trading plan, which may add some caution, although the sale was not necessarily a bearish signal. Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) CEO Anthony Wood Sells 18,000 Shares

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROKU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Roku from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 price target on shares of Roku in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Roku from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Roku from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Roku in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.96.

Roku Stock Up 20.1%

The firm has a market cap of $21.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.02 and a beta of 2.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.97.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Roku news, insider Charles Collier sold 20,537 shares of Roku stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.94, for a total value of $2,565,892.78. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,899,088. The trade was a 57.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Matthew C. Banks sold 546 shares of Roku stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.26, for a total transaction of $69,483.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $983,083.50. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 685,168 shares of company stock valued at $77,352,473. Company insiders own 13.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Roku

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ROKU. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Roku by 680.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Aventura Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Roku in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bayban raised its position in shares of Roku by 1,300.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Roku in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Roku in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 86.30% of the company’s stock.

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.