Roblox Co. (NYSE:RBLX) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Roblox Co. (NYSE:RBLX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,370,000 shares, a growth of 19.3% from the July 31st total of 17,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on RBLX. Barclays increased their target price on Roblox from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Roblox in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Roblox from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Roblox from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Roblox from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Roblox presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.15.

Insider Activity at Roblox

In other Roblox news, CEO David Baszucki sold 166,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total transaction of $6,701,720.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 142,260 shares in the company, valued at $5,720,274.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO David Baszucki sold 166,668 shares of Roblox stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total transaction of $6,701,720.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,720,274.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amy Marie Rawlings sold 12,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total transaction of $540,455.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 87,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,851,702.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 730,649 shares of company stock worth $29,104,359. 22.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RBLX. PARK CIRCLE Co bought a new stake in shares of Roblox during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Roblox in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Roblox by 102.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Roblox during the first quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Roblox by 98.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. 91.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Roblox Stock Performance

NYSE:RBLX traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.99. The stock had a trading volume of 5,261,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,921,994. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.02. The stock has a market cap of $26.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.65 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.04, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Roblox has a twelve month low of $24.88 and a twelve month high of $47.20.

Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.07. Roblox had a negative return on equity of 1,187.59% and a negative net margin of 34.12%. The company had revenue of $893.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $897.88 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.46) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Roblox will post -1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Roblox Company Profile

Roblox Corporation develops and operates an online entertainment platform in the United States and internationally. It offers Roblox Studio, a free toolset that allows developers and creators to build, publish, and operate 3D experiences, and other content; Roblox Client, an application that allows users to explore 3D experience; and Roblox Cloud, which provides services and infrastructure that power the platform.