Brokerages Set Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV) PT at $197.19

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $197.1905.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LYV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on Live Nation Entertainment from $181.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Live Nation Entertainment from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Live Nation Entertainment from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Citizens Jmp upped their price target on Live Nation Entertainment from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Live Nation Entertainment Stock Performance

NYSE:LYV opened at $167.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.40 billion, a PE ratio of -147.96 and a beta of 1.11. Live Nation Entertainment has a fifty-two week low of $125.34 and a fifty-two week high of $189.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $179.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.53.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.39. Live Nation Entertainment had a return on equity of 54.61% and a net margin of 0.34%.The company had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Live Nation Entertainment’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Live Nation Entertainment will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Live Nation Entertainment

In other news, CAO Brian Capo sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $533,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,655 shares in the company, valued at $1,592,520. This trade represents a 25.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LYV. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,301,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $610,707,000 after acquiring an additional 20,165 shares in the last quarter. Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment in the second quarter valued at approximately $626,000. CenterBook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 780.1% during the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 22,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,155,000 after purchasing an additional 19,627 shares during the last quarter. Troluce Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment during the first quarter worth approximately $50,328,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 41,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,934,000 after purchasing an additional 12,916 shares during the period. 74.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc is a global live entertainment company that produces, promotes and operates concerts, music festivals and other live events. Through its concert promotion business, the company works with artists and venues to organize events across a broad range of music genres.

The company also operates Ticketmaster, a ticketing platform that provides ticket sales, distribution and related technology for concerts, sports and other events. In addition, Live Nation manages and operates entertainment venues and provides sponsorship and advertising services that connect brands with live audiences.

Live Nation was formed in 2005 through the combination of Clear Channel Entertainment’s live entertainment business and Live Nation.