Insider Selling: Sony (NYSE:SONY) Director Sells $9,044,000.00 in Stock

Sony Corporation (NYSE:SONY) Director Kenichiro Yoshida sold 400,000 shares of Sony stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.61, for a total value of $9,044,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 661,615 shares in the company, valued at $14,959,115.15. This represents a 37.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Sony Stock Performance

SONY opened at $22.55 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $21.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.73. Sony Corporation has a 1 year low of $19.63 and a 1 year high of $30.34. The company has a market capitalization of $134.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -112.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Sony (NYSE:SONY) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Sony had a negative net margin of 2.61% and a positive return on equity of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $19.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $32.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Sony Corporation will post 1.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sony Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th will be paid a $0.0796 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 80.0%. Sony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -55.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sony

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vestor Capital LLC grew its holdings in Sony by 888.1% during the first quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,247 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Sony during the first quarter worth about $72,000. Royal Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Sony during the first quarter worth about $1,304,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Sony by 9.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,992,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413,785 shares during the period. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Sony by 10.1% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 11,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 14.05% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Sony

Here are the key news stories impacting Sony this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Director Kenichiro Yoshida sold 400,000 shares of Sony stock, and insider Tsuyoshi Kodera also sold shares. Large insider sales can hurt sentiment because they may suggest management sees limited near-term upside. Article Title Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts kept Sony at an average “Hold” rating, which reinforces a cautious outlook and limits enthusiasm for a major re-rating in the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One report said Sony is being sued over alleged tariff-related price hikes, adding legal and reputational overhang around the gaming business. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A separate article suggested Sony’s Days of Play promotion may not include PS5 discounts, which could disappoint gamers and soften the near-term sales buzz around PlayStation hardware. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Sony from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Sony in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of Sony in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sony currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.00.

Sony Company Profile

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.