Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 1,613,137 Shares of Roblox Co. (NYSE:RBLX)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its position in shares of Roblox Co. (NYSE:RBLX) by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,700,805 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,613,137 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.10% of Roblox worth $273,326,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Roblox during the third quarter valued at approximately $533,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Roblox during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Roblox during the third quarter valued at $2,341,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Roblox by 34.3% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 60,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 15,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Roblox by 5.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,332,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,003,000 after acquiring an additional 408,915 shares during the last quarter. 94.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on RBLX. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Roblox from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Roblox from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Roblox from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Roblox from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Roblox from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amy Marie Rawlings sold 2,186 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.90, for a total value of $115,639.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 91,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,179.80. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Baszucki sold 166,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $7,593,302.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 135,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,184,997.80. This trade represents a 55.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,457,267 shares of company stock worth $74,422,648 in the last three months. Company insiders own 22.15% of the company’s stock.

Roblox Stock Performance

NYSE:RBLX opened at $59.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Roblox Co. has a 52-week low of $29.55 and a 52-week high of $61.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.21 billion, a PE ratio of -36.34 and a beta of 1.50.

Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.02. Roblox had a negative net margin of 30.90% and a negative return on equity of 986.36%. The company had revenue of $919.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.45) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Roblox Co. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

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.