Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Stock Price Up 1.8% – Here’s What Happened

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) was up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $77.57 and last traded at $77.40. 22,097,160 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 42,956,473 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.01.

Key Stories Impacting Netflix

Here are the key news stories impacting Netflix this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Netflix is included among broadcast and television stocks benefiting from strong content consumption and resilient digital viewing, supporting the company’s long-term engagement and advertising opportunity. Broadcast and television industry outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Netflix plans longer theatrical runs and will report box-office revenue for six upcoming films, potentially creating an additional monetization channel and improving the economics of its movie slate. Netflix theatrical strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Options-market activity is drawing attention from investors, although the available report does not identify a specific directional trade or catalyst. Netflix options activity
• Neutral Sentiment: Netflix’s latest reported quarter showed revenue growth of 13.4% year over year and earnings slightly above consensus, but revenue narrowly missed estimates, leaving investors focused on forward guidance.
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Richard Barton sold 720 shares for approximately $54,194 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The relatively small, scheduled transaction offers limited insight into management’s current outlook. Netflix director stock sale
• Negative Sentiment: Florida sued Netflix for billions, alleging that the company misled families and improperly tracked children’s data for advertising. The case creates potential legal costs, reputational damage and restrictions on the advertising business. Florida lawsuit against Netflix
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary citing a weak second-quarter outlook is adding pressure to expectations for near-term subscriber, viewing or revenue growth. Netflix outlook concerns
• Negative Sentiment: A poll showing broad Canadian support for requiring streamers to fund local content signals possible additional compliance obligations and production costs for Netflix. Canadian streaming regulation

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NFLX. CLSA initiated coverage on Netflix in a research report on Monday, July 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. HSBC dropped their target price on Netflix from $104.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Moffett Nathanson reduced their price target on Netflix from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Netflix from an “underweight” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Netflix and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.65.

Netflix Trading Up 1.8%

The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $322.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.43.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The Internet television network reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01. Netflix had a net margin of 28.22% and a return on equity of 40.02%. The company had revenue of $12.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Netflix, Inc. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gregory K. Peters sold 27,312 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.54, for a total transaction of $2,008,524.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,265.74. The trade was a 18.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Spencer Neumann sold 9,248 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.79, for a total transaction of $700,905.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 73,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,592,316.73. This represents a 11.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 215,035 shares of company stock valued at $15,922,139. 1.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Netflix

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NFLX. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Netflix by 7,028.2% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 458,934,710 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $32,767,938,000 after purchasing an additional 452,496,424 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Netflix in the 2nd quarter worth $24,902,221,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Netflix by 927.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 176,780,995 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $16,574,986,000 after buying an additional 159,578,053 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Netflix by 892.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,598,678 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $9,305,336,000 after buying an additional 89,558,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in Netflix by 859.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 89,341,444 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $8,376,656,000 after buying an additional 80,025,890 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

About Netflix

Netflix, Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) is a global entertainment company that provides subscription-based streaming access to television series, films, documentaries and other video content. Its service includes Netflix-produced and licensed programming, with offerings that may vary by market. The company also provides an advertising-supported plan in selected countries and has expanded into mobile games and other interactive entertainment.

Netflix was founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph as a DVD-by-mail rental service in the United States.