Rathbones Group PLC Has $5.03 Million Position in Sony Corporation $SONY

Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in Sony Corporation (NYSE:SONY) by 31.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 196,275 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,452 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Sony were worth $5,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new stake in shares of Sony in the third quarter valued at approximately $277,631,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Sony by 245.0% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,049,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,044,000 after acquiring an additional 4,296,028 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Sony by 7,377.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,374,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,145,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329,147 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sony by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 104,644,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,128,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,766,460 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sony in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,560,000. 14.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sony News Summary

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Tsuyoshi Kodera sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $622,973.33. This represents a 38.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenichiro Yoshida sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Sony Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SONY opened at $22.55 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.73. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $134.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -112.72, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.92. Sony Corporation has a one year low of $19.63 and a one year high of $30.34.

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

Sony Dividend Announcement

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