Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $1,036.38.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Netflix from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $940.00 to $1,150.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Netflix from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Netflix from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays raised shares of Netflix from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $715.00 to $900.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Netflix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Netflix Price Performance

NFLX stock opened at $973.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $954.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $891.82. Netflix has a 52-week low of $542.01 and a 52-week high of $1,064.50. The company has a market capitalization of $416.22 billion, a PE ratio of 49.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $10.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company posted $8.28 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Netflix will post 24.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Netflix news, CEO Gregory K. Peters sold 4,939 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,030.00, for a total transaction of $5,087,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,338,500. This trade represents a 27.61 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $979.01, for a total value of $40,257,870.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,610 shares in the company, valued at $30,946,506.10. This represents a 56.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 274,312 shares of company stock valued at $267,919,297. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Netflix

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NFLX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Netflix by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,488,005 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $33,413,809,000 after acquiring an additional 171,712 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Netflix by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,887,090 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $18,617,081,000 after purchasing an additional 375,234 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Netflix by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,323,952 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $8,287,823,000 after buying an additional 175,596 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $8,239,576,000 after acquiring an additional 8,827,662 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Netflix in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,019,087,000. 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.