Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Stock Price

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $1,050.00 to $1,150.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the Internet television network’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Netflix from $760.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Netflix from $825.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Netflix from $925.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Netflix from $555.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Netflix from $825.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Netflix has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $993.82.

Netflix Price Performance

Netflix stock opened at $953.99 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $407.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.99, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $886.64 and a 200-day moving average of $762.07. Netflix has a 52-week low of $481.40 and a 52-week high of $999.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 48,363 shares of Netflix stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.60, for a total value of $43,362,265.80. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,212.40. The trade was a 99.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard N. Barton sold 6,364 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 246 shares in the company, valued at $216,327.48. The trade was a 96.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,198 shares of company stock valued at $127,616,898 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Netflix

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NFLX. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Netflix by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 544 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Netflix by 24.8% during the second quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 433 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Clear Point Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Netflix by 3.9% in the second quarter. Clear Point Advisors Inc. now owns 449 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Netflix by 10.6% in the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,230 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $5,554,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Netflix by 4.7% during the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 465,249 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $313,987,000 after acquiring an additional 20,962 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently 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.