StockNews.com Upgrades Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) to Hold

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Live Nation Entertainment from $130.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $123.00 price objective on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $118.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $120.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Live Nation Entertainment from $132.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.53.

Live Nation Entertainment Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:LYV opened at $138.50 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.10. Live Nation Entertainment has a fifty-two week low of $81.38 and a fifty-two week high of $139.19. The stock has a market cap of $32.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 147.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $115.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.88.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $7.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.75 billion. Live Nation Entertainment had a net margin of 2.11% and a return on equity of 77.62%. The company’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Live Nation Entertainment will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Live Nation Entertainment

In related news, Director Jeffrey T. Hinson sold 5,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.18, for a total transaction of $536,815.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 53,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,134,865.82. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Michael Rowles sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.64, for a total value of $3,417,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 167,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,349,525.08. This trade represents a 17.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 168,799 shares of company stock worth $16,449,718 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Live Nation Entertainment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in Live Nation Entertainment by 12.3% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 12,940,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,213,053,000 after buying an additional 1,415,173 shares in the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 44.6% during the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 3,543,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,171,000 after buying an additional 1,093,000 shares during the period. ValueAct Holdings L.P. purchased a new position in Live Nation Entertainment in the third quarter valued at about $111,094,000. PointState Capital LP acquired a new position in Live Nation Entertainment during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $102,762,000. Finally, Vulcan Value Partners LLC increased its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 46.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 2,694,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,663,000 after buying an additional 855,197 shares during the period. 74.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Live Nation Entertainment Company Profile

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc operates as a live entertainment company worldwide. It operates through Concerts, Ticketing, and Sponsorship & Advertising segments. The Concerts segment promotes live music events in its owned or operated venues, and in rented third-party venues. This segment operates and manages music venues; produces music festivals; creates and streams associated content; and offers management and other services to artists.