Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys New Shares in Sphere Entertainment Co. $SPHR

Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE:SPHR) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 129,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,196,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SPHR. Steadfast Capital Management LP increased its stake in Sphere Entertainment by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP now owns 1,256,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,054,000 after buying an additional 10,720 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in Sphere Entertainment by 23.2% in the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 760,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,775,000 after buying an additional 142,997 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake 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. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Sphere Entertainment during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,909,000. Finally, Mane Global Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Sphere Entertainment during the third quarter worth about $22,143,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.03% of the company’s stock.

Sphere Entertainment Price Performance

Shares of SPHR opened at $133.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.18 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $146.75 and a 200-day moving average of $125.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Sphere Entertainment Co. has a 52 week low of $37.89 and a 52 week high of $174.60.

Sphere Entertainment (NYSE:SPHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $313.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($2.27) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Sphere Entertainment Co. will post -2.44 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on SPHR. Benchmark increased their price target on Sphere Entertainment from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Sphere Entertainment in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and set a $173.00 price target on shares of Sphere Entertainment in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sphere Entertainment from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on shares of Sphere Entertainment from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.08.

Sphere Entertainment Profile

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.