Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 668,423 Shares of Roblox Co. (NYSE:RBLX)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its holdings in Roblox Co. (NYSE:RBLX) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,032,382 shares of the company’s stock after selling 668,423 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Roblox were worth $349,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Roblox by 21.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 34,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after buying an additional 6,077 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Roblox by 3.5% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Roblox during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $547,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Roblox by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 100,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Roblox by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,944,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,066,000 after purchasing an additional 20,872 shares during the period. 94.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Roblox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RBLX opened at $58.36 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.65. Roblox Co. has a twelve month low of $29.55 and a twelve month high of $75.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.25 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.82.

Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.13. Roblox had a negative net margin of 25.97% and a negative return on equity of 665.98%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Roblox Co. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Roblox news, insider Arvind Chakravarthy sold 982 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.26, for a total value of $60,157.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 204,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,513,028.86. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Anthony P. Lee sold 250,000 shares of Roblox stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.04, for a total transaction of $16,260,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,254,137 shares in the company, valued at $406,769,070.48. This trade represents a 3.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 926,466 shares of company stock worth $60,212,297. 22.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on RBLX. Citigroup increased their price objective on Roblox from $63.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Roblox from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective (up previously from $65.00) on shares of Roblox in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Roblox from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Roblox from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Roblox presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.23.

About Roblox

Roblox Corporation develops and operates an online entertainment platform in the United States and internationally. It offers Roblox Studio, a free toolset that allows developers and creators to build, publish, and operate 3D experiences, and other content; Roblox Client, an application that allows users to explore 3D experience; and Roblox Cloud, which provides services and infrastructure that power the platform.