Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $150.00 to $170.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Live Nation Entertainment traded as high as $155.05 and last traded at $154.73, with a volume of 1783255 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.76.

LYV has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Live Nation Entertainment from $137.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $125.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $144.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Live Nation Entertainment from $120.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.47.

Institutional Trading of Live Nation Entertainment

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Live Nation Entertainment by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 8,650,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,120,177,000 after acquiring an additional 44,703 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,302,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $945,635,000 after purchasing an additional 105,648 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 207.6% during the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 4,693,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,871,000 after purchasing an additional 3,168,210 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,871,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,107,000 after buying an additional 108,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,208,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,447,000 after buying an additional 777,105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.52% of the company’s stock.

Live Nation Entertainment Trading Down 0.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $35.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $138.96 and its 200-day moving average is $121.87.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.93) by $1.49. Live Nation Entertainment had a net margin of 2.11% and a return on equity of 77.62%. On average, research analysts predict that Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

About Live Nation Entertainment

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.