Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Stock Price Down 2.2% After Insider Selling

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)’s share price traded down 2.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $81.93 and last traded at $85.36. 127,285,778 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 133% from the average session volume of 54,547,723 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.26.

Specifically, insider David A. Hyman sold 23,439 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.11, for a total value of $2,065,210.29. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 316,100 shares in the company, valued at $27,851,571. The trade was a 6.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bradford L. Smith sold 31,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.86, for a total transaction of $2,824,859.40. Following the sale, the director owned 79,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,081,253.40. This represents a 28.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NFLX. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price objective on Netflix from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna raised Netflix to a “positive” rating and set a $112.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Argus set a $141.00 price target on Netflix in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Netflix from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, President Capital raised shares of Netflix from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.72.

Key Stories Impacting Netflix

Here are the key news stories impacting Netflix this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat consensus on EPS and showed healthy revenue and subscriber gains (Netflix passed ~325M paid members), supporting the underlying streaming business. Reuters: Netflix beats revenue estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Advertising revenue is accelerating (management cited ~$1.5B in ad revenue for 2025), giving Netflix a clear monetization lever beyond subscriptions. Deadline: Ad revenue update
• Positive Sentiment: Heavy option activity has drawn attention — some coverage frames the volume as bullish interest (increased calls alongside puts can signal trader conviction and potential upside positioning). MSN: Options activity
• Neutral Sentiment: Netflix amended its Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) bid to an all‑cash structure — this reduces stock-contingency risk and could speed approval, but concentrates the cash burden on Netflix. Regulators will scrutinize the bids. CNBC: All-cash WBD bid
• Neutral Sentiment: EU antitrust authorities plan to review rival bids for Warner Bros at the same time, creating an unusual regulatory timeline that could affect deal timing and uncertainty. Reuters: EU review
• Negative Sentiment: Conservative near‑term guidance (Q1 EPS guided below some Street expectations) disappointed investors and was the immediate catalyst for the sell‑off despite the quarterly beat. ProactiveInvestors: Guidance misses
• Negative Sentiment: Management paused the share‑buyback program to preserve cash for the WBD transaction — removes a shareholder-friendly capital return and raises near‑term cash allocation concerns. TalkMarkets: Buyback pause
• Negative Sentiment: Company plans to increase content/program spending (~+10% in 2026), which could compress margins in the short term and contributed to a weaker margin outlook cited by analysts. Financial Post: Content spend
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts trimmed price targets and highlighted deal, guidance and margin risk; coupled with recent insider selling, these factors amplified downside momentum. Benzinga: Analyst reactions

Netflix Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $361.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.91.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The Internet television network reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. Netflix had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 43.96%. The business had revenue of $12.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Netflix has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.760-0.760 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Netflix, Inc. will post 24.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sutton Place Investors LLC grew its stake in Netflix by 854.4% during the 4th quarter. Sutton Place Investors LLC now owns 5,173 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 4,631 shares in the last quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Netflix by 894.6% in the 4th quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 3,328 shares during the period. Jackson Square Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Netflix by 701.9% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 47,089 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $4,415,000 after buying an additional 41,217 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Netflix by 988.5% during the fourth quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 3,320 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 3,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its position in shares of Netflix by 979.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 5,665 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 5,140 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Netflix Company Profile

Netflix, Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) is a global entertainment company that provides subscription-based streaming of films, television series, documentaries and other video content. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph and headquartered in Los Gatos, California, the company began as a DVD-by-mail rental service and introduced streaming video in 2007. Netflix later expanded into producing and distributing original programming, beginning notable original hits in the 2010s, and now operates a content production and distribution ecosystem alongside its licensing activity.

The company’s primary product is its on-demand streaming service, which can be accessed on a wide range of internet-connected devices and delivered through a suite of apps and web platforms.