Addressing the Unusual Netflix Trading

April 3, 2013 by Jon C. Ogg

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is playing a serious game of give back after it was the top S&P 500 stock in the first quarter. Shares doubled yet again during the bull market’s run up from January to March, but the drop on Wednesday is a drop of about 5.5% to $166.50, and shares are literally all over the place.

Drops like this are of course very interesting and mandatory to watch, but the speculation seems to have been that activist investor and billionaire Carl Icahn has started to unload the stock.

While we were looking for an explanation of today’s move, CNBC said that they have contacted Icahn and that he has not sold shares into the strength. The report said that Icahn has not sold a single share of the stock.

Netflix has been a serious mover, up almost 300% from the trough of 2012 to the peak of almost $200.00. Analysts have been playing catch-up here, and the reality is that they have by and large missed the boat, as the consensus price target on this stock listed by Thomson Reuters is down at about $139. Today’s trading volume of 5.6 million shares already has surpassed the daily average.

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