Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Upgraded to “Buy” at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has $700.00 price target on the Internet television network’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on NFLX. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Netflix from $390.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Netflix from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Netflix from $580.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Netflix from $650.00 to $726.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Netflix from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $630.58.

Netflix Price Performance

Shares of NFLX opened at $555.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.22. Netflix has a twelve month low of $315.62 and a twelve month high of $639.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $605.65 and a 200-day moving average of $513.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The Internet television network reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.77. Netflix had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 29.46%. The company had revenue of $9.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.88 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Netflix will post 17.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Netflix

In other news, CEO Gregory K. Peters sold 5,352 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Netflix news, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 20,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $17,091.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gregory K. Peters sold 5,352 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $625.00, for a total value of $3,345,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 268,335 shares of company stock worth $151,619,811 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Netflix

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Netflix by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 958 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its holdings in Netflix by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 2,833 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $1,379,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC grew its holdings in Netflix by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 757 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Netflix by 4.6% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 411 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Netflix by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Netflix Company Profile

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.