Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) Shares Gap Up to $34.96

Shares of Roblox Co. (NYSE:RBLX) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $34.96, but opened at $36.42. Roblox shares last traded at $37.35, with a volume of 2,530,168 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Roblox in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Roblox from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Wedbush boosted their price target on Roblox from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays upgraded Roblox from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $26.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Roblox from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.60.

Roblox Stock Up 5.2 %

The company has a market cap of $21.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.88 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.64.

Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported ($0.52) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. Roblox had a negative net margin of 41.15% and a negative return on equity of 770.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.48) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Roblox Co. will post -2.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Roblox news, CEO David Baszucki sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $8,818,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Amy Marie Rawlings sold 3,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.64, for a total transaction of $153,497.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,906,520. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Baszucki sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total transaction of $8,818,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 707,707 shares of company stock valued at $29,526,367 over the last quarter. 22.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Roblox

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Roblox by 65.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 258,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,859,000 after buying an additional 102,098 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Roblox by 22.2% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 154,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,900,000 after acquiring an additional 28,045 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in Roblox by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 36,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Roblox during the first quarter worth $230,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Roblox by 9.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 8,493,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,266,000 after buying an additional 764,481 shares during the last quarter. 91.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.