Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Upgraded at Benchmark

Benchmark upgraded shares of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Netflix from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Netflix from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Netflix from $825.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Netflix from $1,000.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their price target on shares of Netflix from $1,100.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $993.82.

Netflix Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NFLX opened at $953.99 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $886.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $762.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $407.79 billion, a PE ratio of 48.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.27. Netflix has a fifty-two week low of $481.40 and a fifty-two week high of $999.00.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The Internet television network reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.20 by $0.07. Netflix had a net margin of 22.34% and a return on equity of 39.48%. The company had revenue of $10.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10,141,900 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Netflix will post 23.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard N. Barton sold 6,364 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $879.38, for a total value of $5,596,374.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $216,327.48. This represents a 96.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 35,868 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.08, for a total transaction of $31,853,653.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,241.12. This represents a 99.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 152,198 shares of company stock valued at $127,616,898. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Netflix

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NFLX. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Netflix by 27.1% during the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 544 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Netflix by 24.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 433 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Clear Point Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Netflix by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Point Advisors Inc. now owns 449 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Netflix by 10.6% during the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,230 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $5,554,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in shares of Netflix by 4.7% during the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 465,249 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $313,987,000 after acquiring an additional 20,962 shares during the last quarter. 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.