Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Analyst Upgrade

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares saw strong trading volume on Monday after Macquarie raised their price target on the stock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00. Macquarie currently has an outperform rating on the stock. 1,875,546 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the previous session’s volume of 3,668,810 shares.The stock last traded at $987.01 and had previously closed at $973.03.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on NFLX. Arete Research raised Netflix to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Phillip Securities lowered Netflix from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Netflix from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $975.00 to $1,200.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Netflix from $875.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Netflix in a report on Monday, March 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,070.65.

Insider Transactions at Netflix

In other news, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 25,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $921.15, for a total value of $23,360,364.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,933.10. The trade was a 98.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider David A. Hyman sold 41,121 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $979.01, for a total transaction of $40,257,870.21. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,946,506.10. This trade represents a 56.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, 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

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NFLX. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Netflix by 109,524.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,835,722 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $8,239,576,000 after purchasing an additional 8,827,662 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Netflix in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,019,087,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Netflix by 123,836.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,925,977 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $1,716,662,000 after buying an additional 1,924,423 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Netflix by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,301,098 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $2,051,016,000 after acquiring an additional 856,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Netflix by 318.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 976,924 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $870,752,000 after acquiring an additional 743,724 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Netflix Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $954.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $896.26. The company has a market capitalization of $422.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.55.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The Internet television network reported $6.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.74 by $0.87. Netflix had a return on equity of 38.32% and a net margin of 22.34%. The company had revenue of $10.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.28 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Netflix, Inc. will post 24.58 earnings per share for the current year.

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.