Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $150.37 and last traded at $149.4870, with a volume of 321851 shares. The stock had previously closed at $146.96.

More Roku News

Here are the key news stories impacting Roku this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are revising forecasts ahead of Roku’s earnings call, highlighting investor interest in potential strength across the platform business, including advertising, streaming engagement and revenue growth. Favorable results or guidance could support further gains. Benzinga analyst forecast article
• Positive Sentiment: Roku expanded its free, ad-supported live TV lineup with four additional channels. More content could increase viewing time and strengthen the company’s advertising ecosystem over time. Roku free live TV article
• Positive Sentiment: Consumer-electronics coverage of an upcoming Aurzen Roku TV portable projector priced below $70 may broaden Roku-branded distribution and product visibility, although the immediate financial impact is uncertain. Android Authority projector article
• Neutral Sentiment: Roku’s stock is approaching a three-year high ahead of earnings, indicating strong investor positioning but also leaving the shares vulnerable to volatility if results or guidance fall short. Schaeffers Research earnings article
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders sold shares near $146 per share, including Chief Accounting Officer Matthew Banks, Director Neil Hunt and insider Charles Collier. The transactions were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their signaling value, but the sizable sales may still weigh modestly on sentiment. Roku insider-selling article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on potential weakness in Roku’s device business, advertising performance and the pending Fox acquisition. Because the stock is richly valued, disappointing quarterly results or cautious guidance could lead to a sharp decline. Yahoo Finance Roku earnings preview

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ROKU. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Roku from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Evercore cut shares of Roku from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Roku from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, June 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Roku from $120.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Fox Advisors set a $157.00 price objective on shares of Roku in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.12.

Roku Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.71. The stock has a market cap of $22.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.79 and a beta of 2.01.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Mustafa Ozgen sold 10,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.00, for a total value of $1,467,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 19,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,762,640. This trade represents a 34.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Charles Collier sold 20,538 shares of Roku stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.93, for a total value of $2,997,110.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,136. This represents a 57.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 226,733 shares of company stock valued at $29,862,532 in the last 90 days. 13.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Roku

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Roku by 680.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Bayban increased its holdings in shares of Roku by 1,300.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Roku in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Roku in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Roku by 55.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 442 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 86.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Roku

Roku, Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) is a technology company that develops and operates a proprietary streaming platform designed to deliver entertainment content to consumers via internet-connected devices and smart televisions. Since its inception in 2002 in California, Roku has focused on simplifying access to streaming services for viewers worldwide. The company’s platform enables users to discover, access and manage a wide array of over-the-top content from major streaming services, free ad-supported channels and niche providers.

At the core of Roku’s product lineup are a range of streaming players and sticks, which connect to televisions via HDMI and deliver the Roku OS experience.