Benchmark Reiterates “Sell” Rating for Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX)‘s stock had its “sell” rating reaffirmed by Benchmark in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $440.00 target price on the Internet television network’s stock. Benchmark’s price objective points to a potential downside of 20.73% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on NFLX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Netflix from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Netflix from $595.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Netflix from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Netflix from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Netflix from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Netflix currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $630.58.

Netflix Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NFLX opened at $555.04 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $605.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $513.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Netflix has a 52 week low of $315.62 and a 52 week high of $639.00.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The Internet television network reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.51 by $0.77. Netflix had a net margin of 16.04% and a return on equity of 24.76%. The business had revenue of $9.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Netflix will post 17.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David A. Hyman sold 47,574 shares of Netflix stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.92, for a total value of $25,591,006.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,003,651.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider David A. Hyman sold 47,574 shares of Netflix stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.92, for a total value of $25,591,006.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,003,651.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 20,566 shares of Netflix stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $610.42, for a total transaction of $12,553,897.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 28 shares in the company, valued at $17,091.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 268,335 shares of company stock valued at $151,619,811 in the last ninety days. 2.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Netflix

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NFLX. Fairfield Bush & CO. boosted its position in shares of Netflix by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 2,446 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $916,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Netflix by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 480,044 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $179,820,000 after purchasing an additional 84,179 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Netflix by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,922 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its position in shares of Netflix by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 36,336 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $13,610,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Netflix by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,808 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $1,426,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.