Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Shares Down 0.9% Following Insider Selling

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares traded down 0.9% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $700.00 and last traded at $704.96. 458,092 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 3,672,168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $711.09.

Specifically, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 45,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $706.16, for a total transaction of $31,981,986.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 85 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,023.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NFLX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic lifted their price objective on shares of Netflix from $740.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Benchmark boosted their price target on Netflix from $450.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Netflix from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Netflix from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their price target on Netflix from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $686.03.

Netflix Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.19 billion, a PE ratio of 49.94, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $676.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $647.86.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The Internet television network reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.74 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $9.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.53 billion. Netflix had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 32.93%. Netflix’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.29 EPS. Research analysts expect that Netflix, Inc. will post 19.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Netflix

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DigitalBridge Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Netflix by 35.5% in the second quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 36,063 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $24,338,000 after buying an additional 9,451 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Netflix during the 1st quarter worth approximately $9,682,000. BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Netflix by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd now owns 250,000 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $155,185,000 after purchasing an additional 49,000 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in shares of Netflix by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 82,931 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $55,968,000 after purchasing an additional 30,511 shares during the period. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Netflix in the 4th quarter valued at $9,513,000. 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.