Gabelli Funds LLC Cuts Stock Position in Sphere Entertainment Co. $SPHR

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its stake in shares of Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE:SPHR) by 3.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 522,336 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,403 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Sphere Entertainment were worth $61,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Sphere Entertainment by 5.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 150,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,928,000 after acquiring an additional 7,891 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Sphere Entertainment by 5.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 831 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sphere Entertainment by 132.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 628,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,577,000 after acquiring an additional 357,794 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Sphere Entertainment by 11.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 30,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sphere Entertainment in the 2nd quarter worth about $551,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.03% of the company’s stock.

Sphere Entertainment Stock Performance

Shares of SPHR opened at $136.15 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.33. The stock has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.49 and a beta of 1.61. Sphere Entertainment Co. has a 52 week low of $37.89 and a 52 week high of $174.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Sphere Entertainment (NYSE:SPHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by $0.27. Sphere Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 5.07% and a net margin of 8.05%.The business had revenue of $386.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.41 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($2.27) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Sphere Entertainment Co. will post -2.44 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SPHR shares. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Sphere Entertainment in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Sphere Entertainment from $159.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sphere Entertainment from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Sphere Entertainment from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their price target on shares of Sphere Entertainment from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.08.

About Sphere Entertainment

Sphere Entertainment Co (NYSE: SPHR) is a publicly traded company focused on the development and operation of large-scale immersive entertainment venues. Established as a standalone entity in early 2023 following its separation from Madison Square Garden Entertainment, Sphere leverages cutting-edge audiovisual technologies to create next-generation concert, film and cultural experiences. The company’s flagship venue in Las Vegas showcases its core capabilities, while additional projects are in various stages of development around the world.

At the Las Vegas Sphere, Sphere Entertainment has installed one of the largest LED display surfaces on the planet, wrapping audiences in 16K resolution imagery and spatial audio powered by proprietary sound systems.