Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) Trading Up 7% Following Analyst Upgrade

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV)’s stock price shot up 7% during mid-day trading on Friday after Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on the stock from $119.00 to $122.00. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Live Nation Entertainment traded as high as $95.40 and last traded at $94.45. 1,447,648 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 2,243,301 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.27.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Live Nation Entertainment from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Live Nation Entertainment from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded Live Nation Entertainment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey T. Hinson sold 1,001 shares of Live Nation Entertainment stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.50, for a total value of $100,600.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 59,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,967,087. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Live Nation Entertainment

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment in the fourth quarter worth about $248,139,000. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 146.6% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,746,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,632,749 shares during the period. Findlay Park Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 55.1% in the third quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 3,059,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,264 shares during the period. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 52.8% in the third quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,100,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,384,000 after acquiring an additional 726,000 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 104.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,189,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,268,000 after acquiring an additional 606,743 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.52% of the company’s stock.

Live Nation Entertainment Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $21.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $98.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.67.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by ($0.32). The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Live Nation Entertainment had a return on equity of 85.50% and a net margin of 2.22%. Live Nation Entertainment’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.