Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $610.56, but opened at $567.88. Canaccord Genuity Group now has a $585.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $720.00. Netflix shares last traded at $569.40, with a volume of 4,111,592 shares traded.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Netflix from $600.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Netflix from $500.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $585.00 price objective (down from $720.00) on shares of Netflix in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Netflix from $580.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on Netflix from $585.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $628.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Netflix news, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 20,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $610.42, for a total transaction of $12,553,897.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 28 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,091.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Gregory K. Peters sold 5,352 shares of Netflix stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $625.00, for a total transaction of $3,345,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 20,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $610.42, for a total value of $12,553,897.72. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 28 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,091.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 268,335 shares of company stock worth $151,619,811 in the last quarter. 2.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NFLX. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 lifted its stake in shares of Netflix by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 1,566 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Netflix by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 2,105 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its holdings in Netflix by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 9,849 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $4,795,000 after buying an additional 1,318 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Netflix by 142.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 667,597 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $252,085,000 after buying an additional 392,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Cove Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Netflix by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 1,187 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Netflix Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $247.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $605.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $511.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The Internet television network reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.51 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $9.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.28 billion. Netflix had a return on equity of 24.76% and a net margin of 16.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Netflix, Inc. will post 17.05 EPS 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.