NEW YORK (Reuters) - Netflix Inc said on Tuesday it will offer a device for just under $100 to let people transfer movies to their televisions, while a Lehman Brothers analyst raised his rating on the company's stock.

Netflix shares rose more than 7 percent in early trading.

Netflix said that it and partner company Roku will offer a device that lets Netflix subscribers "stream" movies and television episodes to their TVs. The player costs $99.99, Netflix said in a press release.

There are no extra charges or viewing restrictions and people can "watch as much as they want and as often as they want without paying more or impacting the number of DVDs they receive," Chief Executive Reed Hastings said in the statement.

The player is about the size of a paperback book and requires an Internet connection. It also works with wireless Internet connection systems through Wi-Fi technology.

Users can fast-forward and rewind the video streams with a remote control, Netflix said.

Netflix said in January it also was developing a set-top box with LG Electronics Inc to let subscribers watch movies streamed from the Web to their TVs.

Several other companies are exploring streaming Web video, including Vudu Inc, Apple Inc, Microsoft Corpthrough its Xbox game console, and TiVo, all with varying amounts of material available.

The Netflix service offered through the Roku player offers more than 10,000 movies and television episodes, Netflix said.

The amount of movies and shows available on the new service is one-tenth of the more than 100,000 DVD titles that Netflix offers through its traditional service, where users order movies online and have them shipped by mail.

Last month, some Wall Street analysts who follow Netflix's financial performance, said the company needed to start charging customers for its free online streaming service.

Netflix's stock fell more than 20 percent one day in April after it warned that gross margins would remain flat for the next two quarters as it continues to spend more for online content for its Watch Instantly streaming service, which it offers free to subscribers.

Netflix debuted the new player on the same day that Lehman Brothers analyst Douglas Anmuth raised his rating on Netflix's stock to "overweight" from "equal weight." Anmuth said the company was benefiting from strong subscriber trends.

Anmuth boosted his 2008 profit-per-share forecast to $1.26 from $1.24, and raised his price target for the company's shares to $37 from $31, The new target price is 19 percent higher than Netflix's Monday closing price of $30.98 on the Nasdaq.

The analyst expects Netflix will enjoy a strong second quarter in subscriber growth, and expects subscriber acquisition costs and churn "to trend lower as Netflix benefits from the more favorable competitive landscape along with increased word-of-mouth and more attractive marketing opportunities."

Netflix shares rose $2.27, or 7.3 percent, to $33.25 in early Nasdaq trading.

(Reporting by Robert MacMillan, with additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel in Bangalore; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)