Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 819 Shares of The Madison Square Garden Company $MSGS

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,967 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 819 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.47% of Madison Square Garden worth $23,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in Madison Square Garden by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 603,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,479,000 after acquiring an additional 14,669 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Madison Square Garden by 6.0% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 528,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,919,000 after purchasing an additional 29,938 shares during the period. Greenhouse Funds LLLP raised its position in shares of Madison Square Garden by 3.5% in the first quarter. Greenhouse Funds LLLP now owns 408,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,509,000 after purchasing an additional 13,707 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 135,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,324,000 after buying an additional 18,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearline Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Madison Square Garden by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 97,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,022,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the period. 68.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MSGS. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Madison Square Garden from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Madison Square Garden from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Zacks Research raised Madison Square Garden from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a research report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Madison Square Garden presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $260.50.

Madison Square Garden Stock Performance

MSGS opened at $226.18 on Friday. The Madison Square Garden Company has a 52-week low of $173.26 and a 52-week high of $237.99. The firm has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -230.80 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $221.30 and its 200-day moving average is $207.21.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.04) by $0.67. Madison Square Garden had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 1.76%. The business had revenue of $39.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.31) earnings per share. Madison Square Garden’s revenue was down 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Madison Square Garden Company will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Madison Square Garden Profile

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. operates as a professional sports company in the United States. The company owns and operates a portfolio of assets that consists of the New York Knickerbockers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. Its other professional franchises include development league teams, the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League and the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League.