William Blair Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV)

William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,809,949 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 284,623 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 0.78% of Live Nation Entertainment worth $234,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of LYV. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,196,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $787,950,000 after acquiring an additional 87,032 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 350,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,376,000 after acquiring an additional 6,512 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 24,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,728,000 after acquiring an additional 3,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.52% of the company’s stock.

Live Nation Entertainment Stock Performance

Shares of Live Nation Entertainment stock opened at $119.25 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.38. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.81 and a 52 week high of $157.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $139.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.83.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.93) by $1.49. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.67 billion. Live Nation Entertainment had a return on equity of 139.09% and a net margin of 3.90%. Research analysts forecast that Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey T. Hinson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.95, for a total value of $61,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 52,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,470,120.80. This represents a 0.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Rowles sold 63,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.40, for a total value of $9,811,334.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 195,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,356,768.40. The trade was a 24.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,702 shares of company stock valued at $10,497,143. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LYV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $146.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $146.00 target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $148.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.27.

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.