DAVENPORT & Co LLC Sells 34,297 Shares of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. $LYV

DAVENPORT & Co LLC cut its stake in Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 893,111 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,297 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Live Nation Entertainment were worth $127,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 3.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,269,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Live Nation Entertainment by 11.1% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,886,000 after buying an additional 1,243 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Live Nation Entertainment by 720.0% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 31,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,723,000 after buying an additional 27,411 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 76.6% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Live Nation Entertainment by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 788,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,274,000 after acquiring an additional 28,719 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.52% of the company’s stock.

Live Nation Entertainment Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Live Nation Entertainment stock opened at $152.61 on Wednesday. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.20 and a 12-month high of $175.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -635.85 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($1.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.00) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.12 billion. Live Nation Entertainment had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 48.11%. Live Nation Entertainment’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LYV. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Live Nation Entertainment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $193.00 in a report on Friday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Live Nation Entertainment in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $204.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Live Nation Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Live Nation Entertainment has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.40.

Insider Activity at Live Nation Entertainment

In other news, Director Jeffrey T. Hinson sold 944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.87, for a total value of $156,581.28. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 48,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,966,736.10. The trade was a 1.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment is a global live entertainment company that promotes, operates and sells tickets for live events. The company’s core activities include concert promotion and production, venue operations and management, ticketing services through its Ticketmaster platform, artist management and development, and sponsorship and advertising services tied to live events. These integrated businesses are designed to connect artists, fans and commercial partners across the live event ecosystem.

The company in its current form was created following the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, combining a promoter and venue operator with one of the industry’s largest ticketing platforms.