William Blair Investment Management LLC Makes New $9.92 Million Investment in TKO Group Holdings, Inc. $TKO

William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:TKO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 54,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,924,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of TKO. Hemington Wealth Management increased its position in TKO Group by 425.0% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 168 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in TKO Group in the first quarter worth $26,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of TKO Group in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of TKO Group by 129.8% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of TKO Group in the second quarter valued at $34,000. 89.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TKO Group Price Performance

NYSE:TKO opened at $186.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.20 and a beta of 0.76. TKO Group Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.01 and a 52-week high of $212.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $193.15 and a 200 day moving average of $174.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.30.

TKO Group (NYSE:TKO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. TKO Group had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 2.82%. TKO Group’s quarterly revenue was up 53.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that TKO Group Holdings, Inc. will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TKO Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 15th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

TKO Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from TKO Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. TKO Group’s dividend payout ratio is 125.62%.

Insider Activity

In other TKO Group news, Director Nick Khan sold 9,519 shares of TKO Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.82, for a total transaction of $1,883,048.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 128,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,325,509.86. The trade was a 6.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter C. B. Bynoe purchased 740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $203.00 per share, with a total value of $150,220.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 5,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,052,961. The trade was a 16.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 53.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TKO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on TKO Group from $165.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on TKO Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Arete Research upgraded TKO Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on TKO Group from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded TKO Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TKO Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.21.

TKO Group Profile

TKO Group Holdings, Inc operates as a sports and entertainment company. The company produces and licenses live events, television programs, and long-form and short-form content, reality series, and other filmed entertainment on digital and linear channels and via pay-per-view. It is involved in the merchandising of video games, apparel, equipment, trading cards, memorabilia, digital goods, and toys, as well as sale of travel packages and tickets.