Kovack Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Kovack Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) by 2.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,168 shares of the Internet television network’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Netflix were worth $2,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NFLX. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Netflix by 234.4% during the 1st quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Netflix by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,377,081 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $1,227,468,000 after acquiring an additional 110,432 shares during the period. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Netflix in the fourth quarter valued at about $873,000. New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Netflix by 148.5% during the first quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $1,979,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Netflix by 6.1% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,638 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $50,952,000 after buying an additional 3,137 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Netflix Price Performance

NFLX opened at $1,176.78 on Thursday. Netflix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $587.04 and a 12-month high of $1,341.15. The firm has a market cap of $500.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.14, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1,236.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,067.26.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The Internet television network reported $7.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.07 by $0.12. Netflix had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 24.58%. The company had revenue of $11.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Netflix, Inc. will post 24.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Netflix

In other Netflix news, Director Reed Hastings sold 16,840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,295.78, for a total value of $21,820,935.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,044,617.26. This represents a 62.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Spencer Adam Neumann sold 2,601 shares of Netflix stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,307.22, for a total value of $3,400,079.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 3,691 shares in the company, valued at $4,824,949.02. The trade was a 41.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 186,563 shares of company stock valued at $223,147,201. Corporate insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market underperform” rating on shares of Netflix in a research note on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $1,500.00 target price on shares of Netflix and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,250.00 target price (up previously from $1,020.00) on shares of Netflix in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Netflix from $1,300.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,150.00 price objective (up from $1,100.00) on shares of Netflix in a report on Friday, April 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Netflix presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,297.66.

Netflix Profile

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.