TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:TKO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:TKO) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 10,223,670 shares, a growth of 61.7% from the February 26th total of 6,321,729 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,396,973 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.3 days. Approximately 11.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on TKO shares. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of TKO Group in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $210.00 price objective on TKO Group in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on TKO Group from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research lowered TKO Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of TKO Group in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, TKO Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.73.

TKO Group Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE TKO traded down $3.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $189.14. 1,541,615 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,260,510. TKO Group has a 12 month low of $133.07 and a 12 month high of $226.94. The company has a market capitalization of $36.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.06 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $199.68.

TKO Group (NYSE:TKO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. TKO Group had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 2.07%. TKO Group’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that TKO Group will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

TKO Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. TKO Group’s dividend payout ratio is 138.67%.

Insider Transactions at TKO Group

In other news, CFO Andrew M. Schleimer sold 11,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.98, for a total transaction of $2,419,316.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,544 shares in the company, valued at $5,563,337.12. The trade was a 30.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Seth D. Krauss sold 14,016 shares of TKO Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $2,820,299.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $456,970.62. The trade was a 86.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 169,055 shares of company stock worth $34,535,105 in the last quarter. 61.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TKO Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Amundi raised its holdings in TKO Group by 338.7% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TKO Group by 10.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of TKO Group by 4,722.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,341,000 after buying an additional 8,595 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of TKO Group during the first quarter worth $218,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of TKO Group by 127.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.79% of the company’s stock.

About TKO Group

TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO) is a global sports and entertainment company formed in 2023 through the combination of two major combat-sports businesses. The company brings together the mixed martial arts organization UFC and the sports entertainment business WWE under a single publicly traded holding company. TKO owns and manages a portfolio of live-event franchises, intellectual property, and media rights centered on combat and sports-entertainment content.

TKO’s core activities include the promotion and production of live events, the licensing and sale of broadcasting and streaming rights, and the development and commercialization of branded consumer products.