Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $401.00 to $422.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Madison Square Garden traded as high as $360.45 and last traded at $355.20, with a volume of 20350 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $351.54.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Seaport Research Partners upgraded Madison Square Garden from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $430.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Madison Square Garden from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Madison Square Garden from $240.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Madison Square Garden from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Madison Square Garden from $388.00 to $404.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $342.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Madison Square Garden

In other news, Director Charles P. Dolan sold 5,659 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director owned 435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141,488.10. This trade represents a 92.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 19.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Madison Square Garden

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSGS. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Madison Square Garden by 211.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,635,000 after acquiring an additional 7,681 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Madison Square Garden by 76.5% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 104,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,526,000 after purchasing an additional 45,223 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Madison Square Garden by 3.3% during the first quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 155,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,817,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Madison Square Garden by 45.9% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 172,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,281,000 after acquiring an additional 54,100 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Madison Square Garden by 36.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 8,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,802,000 after buying an additional 2,352 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.94% of the company’s stock.

Madison Square Garden Stock Up 0.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -380.50 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $326.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $282.86.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.83) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($1.39). The firm had revenue of $432.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $429.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.59) earnings per share. Madison Square Garden’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Madison Square Garden Company will post -0.5 EPS 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.