Analysts Set The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) PT at $286.00

The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $286.00.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Madison Square Garden from $290.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Madison Square Garden from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Wolfe Research cut Madison Square Garden from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Madison Square Garden from $240.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles P. Dolan sold 5,659 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.26, for a total value of $1,840,646.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,488.10. This represents a 92.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 19.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSGS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 699,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,895,000 after buying an additional 282,318 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Madison Square Garden by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 648,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,739,000 after buying an additional 49,412 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in Madison Square Garden by 1.9% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 614,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,460,000 after acquiring an additional 11,464 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Madison Square Garden by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 538,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,258,000 after acquiring an additional 15,656 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Madison Square Garden by 0.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 455,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,688 shares in the last quarter. 68.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Madison Square Garden Stock Performance

Madison Square Garden stock opened at $315.58 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $302.35 and its 200-day moving average is $255.16. Madison Square Garden has a 1 year low of $173.26 and a 1 year high of $345.46. The company has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -457.36 and a beta of 0.56.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.32). The company had revenue of $403.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.58 million. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Madison Square Garden will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

About Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp (NYSE: MSGS) is a leading sports and entertainment holding company focused on professional sports franchises and related media assets. The company owns and operates teams such as the NBA’s New York Knicks, the NHL’s New York Rangers and the WNBA’s New York Liberty. Through these flagship franchises, MSG Sports offers a range of products and services including ticketing, premium seating and sponsorship opportunities, targeting fans in the New York metropolitan area and beyond.

In addition to team operations, Madison Square Garden Sports Corp holds a majority stake in MSG Networks, a regional cable network that broadcasts live sporting events, news and original programming.