Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Macquarie raised their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $146.00. Macquarie currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Live Nation Entertainment traded as high as $132.17 and last traded at $131.75, with a volume of 398944 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $129.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on LYV. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $123.00 price target on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Live Nation Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $108.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $132.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $120.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.57.

Insider Activity at Live Nation Entertainment

In other news, CEO Michael Rapino sold 98,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.50, for a total value of $9,637,777.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,702,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,956,212.50. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joe Berchtold sold 29,310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.50, for a total transaction of $2,857,725.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 566,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,255,395. The trade was a 4.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 170,500 shares of company stock worth $16,613,966. Insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Live Nation Entertainment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Live Nation Entertainment in the first quarter valued at $281,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 147.0% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 8,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,000 after buying an additional 5,094 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Live Nation Entertainment by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,068,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,911,133,000 after acquiring an additional 110,097 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Live Nation Entertainment in the first quarter worth approximately $273,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Live Nation Entertainment by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 6,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.52% of the company’s stock.

Live Nation Entertainment Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.78. The company has a market capitalization of $30.72 billion, a PE ratio of 137.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.10, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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