Sony Corporation $SONY Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its position in Sony Corporation (NYSE:SONY) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,608,050 shares of the company’s stock after selling 253,415 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Sony were worth $143,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Sony by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,981,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,789,929,000 after acquiring an additional 4,337,062 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new position in Sony in the third quarter valued at approximately $277,631,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Sony by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,446,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397,271 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Sony by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,076,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,973,000 after acquiring an additional 74,768 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Sony by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,411,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,342,000 after acquiring an additional 37,360 shares during the period. 14.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Sony

In related news, Director Kenichiro Yoshida sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.61, for a total transaction of $9,044,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 661,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,959,115.15. The trade was a 37.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Tsuyoshi Kodera sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.61, for a total value of $395,675.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $622,973.33. The trade was a 38.84% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 7.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on SONY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of Sony in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sony in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Sony in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sony currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Trending Headlines about Sony

Here are the key news stories impacting Sony this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sony is generating interest around its consumer electronics lineup, including a new WH-1000XM6 sandstone edition in India, strong reviews for its 1000X headphones, and discussion of its next-generation TV technology with True RGB, which could support sentiment around its premium audio and TV businesses.
• Positive Sentiment: The company also received a fresh investment in IP-focused Midnight Labs, reinforcing Sony’s strategy of backing intellectual-property-driven entertainment opportunities. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: New gaming chatter around God of War and future Kratos-related titles keeps Sony’s PlayStation ecosystem in the spotlight, which may help investor confidence in its games portfolio.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles were mostly product-spotlight pieces, such as Sony’s RIALTO 65 cinema camera, the A7R VI camera discussion, and a look back at Sony’s first DSLR; these are supportive of the brand but are unlikely to move the stock on their own. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Gaming commentary also included criticism that Sony is “losing its grip on third parties” and that its broader “formula problem” remains an issue, which could weigh on sentiment toward the PlayStation business.
• Negative Sentiment: A report that a PS5 follow-up to a beloved PS2 game was suddenly delisted may add a little negative noise around Sony’s game publishing execution.

Sony Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SONY opened at $21.91 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.22. The company has a market cap of $130.32 billion, a PE ratio of -109.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.93. Sony Corporation has a 12-month low of $19.63 and a 12-month high of $30.34.

Sony (NYSE:SONY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $19.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.43 billion. Sony had a positive return on equity of 12.20% and a negative net margin of 2.61%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $32.86 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sony Corporation will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Sony Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.0796 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 30th. This represents a yield of 80.0%. Sony’s payout ratio is presently -55.00%.

About Sony

Sony Group Corporation (NYSE: SONY) is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Founded in 1946 by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita, Sony has grown from an electronics maker into a diversified global company with operations spanning consumer electronics, entertainment, gaming, semiconductors and financial services. The company’s shares trade in Japan and its American Depositary Receipts trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SONY.

Sony’s primary businesses include Electronics Products & Solutions, which covers televisions, audio equipment, digital cameras and professional broadcast systems; Game & Network Services, anchored by the PlayStation platform, consoles, software and online services; Music and Pictures, through Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment, producing, distributing and licensing recorded music, film and television content; Imaging & Sensing Solutions, which develops CMOS image sensors and other semiconductor components; and Financial Services, offering life insurance, banking and other financial products in Japan.