Barclays Upgrades Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) to Equal Weight

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Barclays from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $900.00 price target on the Internet television network’s stock, up from their previous price target of $715.00. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 3.49% from the stock’s previous close.

NFLX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Netflix from $555.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Netflix from $825.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Netflix in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Netflix from $950.00 to $925.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Pivotal Research raised 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 note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $952.30.

Netflix Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NFLX opened at $869.68 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $371.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.27. Netflix has a twelve month low of $479.90 and a twelve month high of $941.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $885.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $760.81.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The Internet television network reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.20 by $0.07. Netflix had a net margin of 20.70% and a return on equity of 35.86%. The business had revenue of $10.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10,141,900 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.11 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Netflix will post 19.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Netflix

In other Netflix news, CEO Theodore A. Sarandos sold 1,278 shares of Netflix stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $767.05, for a total transaction of $980,289.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,960,579.80. This trade represents a 33.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard N. Barton sold 6,364 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $879.38, for a total transaction of $5,596,374.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 246 shares in the company, valued at $216,327.48. This trade represents a 96.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 152,198 shares of company stock valued at $127,616,898. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NFLX. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Netflix in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Netflix by 700.0% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 48 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Netflix in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Netflix during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Netflix in the third quarter worth $38,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.