Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $119.64, but opened at $124.81. Roku shares last traded at $121.1880, with a volume of 511,969 shares changing hands.

Trending Headlines about Roku

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

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Roku from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Roku from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Roku from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (up from $140.00) on shares of Roku in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Roku from $137.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Roku has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.96.

Roku Stock Up 20.1%

The business’s 50-day moving average is $118.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.23. The company has a market capitalization of $21.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.02 and a beta of 2.06.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.23. Roku had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 7.64%. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.19) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Roku, Inc. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Roku

In related news, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.79, for a total transaction of $9,659,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Dan Jedda sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.23, for a total transaction of $1,413,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 85,115 shares in the company, valued at $8,020,386.45. The trade was a 14.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 721,194 shares of company stock valued at $82,169,949 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Roku

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Roku in the fourth quarter worth about $1,345,000. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Roku by 352.3% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,650,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,585 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Roku in the third quarter worth about $2,997,000. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV purchased a new position in shares of Roku in the fourth quarter worth about $2,398,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Roku in the third quarter worth about $5,466,000. Hedge funds and other 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.