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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

LYV has been the topic of a number of other research reports. 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. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Live Nation Entertainment from $108.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Live Nation Entertainment from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Live Nation Entertainment from $132.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Benchmark increased their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.53.

Live Nation Entertainment Stock Performance

Shares of Live Nation Entertainment stock opened at $140.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 149.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.23. Live Nation Entertainment has a 12 month low of $81.38 and a 12 month high of $140.29.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $7.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.75 billion. Live Nation Entertainment had a net margin of 2.11% and a return on equity of 77.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Live Nation Entertainment will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,702,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,956,212.50. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joe Berchtold sold 29,310 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 566,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,255,395. This represents a 4.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 168,799 shares of company stock worth $16,449,718 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Live Nation Entertainment

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 2.8% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 6,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mystic Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.52% of the company’s stock.

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.