Morningstar Investment Management LLC Invests $1.14 Million in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 3,856 shares of the Internet television network’s stock, valued at approximately $1,137,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in Netflix during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Yarbrough Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Netflix during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Netflix by 3,333.3% in the 4th quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 103 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Capital Directions Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Netflix in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, GS Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Netflix by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 120 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on NFLX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Netflix from $390.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Credit Suisse Group increased their target price on shares of Netflix from $291.00 to $331.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Netflix from $395.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Netflix from $415.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Netflix in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $340.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $348.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy M. Haley sold 7,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.28, for a total transaction of $2,389,099.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 86 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,748.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Netflix news, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 26,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.96, for a total value of $8,513,020.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Timothy M. Haley sold 7,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.28, for a total value of $2,389,099.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 86 shares in the company, valued at $28,748.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.45% of the company’s stock.

Netflix Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of Netflix stock traded up $15.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $374.24. 3,456,738 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,293,382. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.27. Netflix, Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.28 and a 1-year high of $379.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $333.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $322.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 18th. The Internet television network reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.05. Netflix had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 13.16%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.53 EPS. Netflix’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Netflix, Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Netflix

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Netflix, Inc engages in providing entertainment services. It also offers a broad set of activities for leisure time, entertainment video, video gaming, and other sources of entertainment. It operates through the United States and International geographic segments. The company was founded by Marc Randolph and Wilmot Reed Hastings on August 29, 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, CA.