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

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the Internet television network's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price suggests a potential upside of 9.40% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Netflix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Netflix from $1,000.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Netflix from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $1,350.00 price objective (up previously from $1,250.00) on shares of Netflix in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Netflix from $1,150.00 to $1,025.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Netflix has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,070.65.

Netflix Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NFLX traded up $47.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $1,096.87. The stock had a trading volume of 6,364,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,716,725. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Netflix has a 12-month low of $544.25 and a 12-month high of $1,100.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $469.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $953.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $898.31.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The Internet television network reported $6.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.74 by $0.87. The company had revenue of $10.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.51 billion. Netflix had a net margin of 22.34% and a return on equity of 38.32%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Netflix will post 24.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Netflix

In related news, CEO Gregory K. Peters sold 102,228 shares of Netflix stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.74, for a total value of $100,259,088.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,700,583. This trade represents a 88.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jeffrey William Karbowski sold 160 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.00, for a total value of $160,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 273,855 shares of company stock worth $267,474,816. Insiders own 1.76% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Netflix

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NFLX. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Netflix by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 26 shares of the Internet television network's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Netflix by 82.4% in the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 31 shares of the Internet television network's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd acquired a new stake in Netflix in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Netflix during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Netflix during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 80.93% of the stock is 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.