Sony Corporation (NYSE:SONY) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Sony has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from seven analysts, with four buys, one strong buy, one hold and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $22.00.
• Sony’s latest quarter exceeded expectations, reporting $0.36 in EPS versus a $0.28 consensus estimate and $17.45 billion in revenue, up 8.2% year over year.
• Shares recently traded at $23.33, down 2.1% for the session. Insiders have sold 901,565 shares worth approximately $19.9 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors have increased several positions.

Shares of Sony Corporation (NYSE:SONY - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Sony from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Sony in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Sony in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sony from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathan Jose Platt sold 16,512 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.08, for a total value of $348,072.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 83,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,512.08. This represents a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kenji Tanaka sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.83, for a total transaction of $476,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 43,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,046,113.17. This represents a 31.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 901,565 shares of company stock valued at $19,867,651. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SONY. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Sony by 337.6% during the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,949,592 shares of the company's stock worth $38,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,504,035 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sony in the first quarter valued at approximately $23,933,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Sony in the second quarter valued at approximately $10,232,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Sony during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,998,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Sony by 338.7% during the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 295,454 shares of the company's stock worth $6,116,000 after acquiring an additional 228,108 shares during the last quarter. 14.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sony Trading Down 2.1%

SONY stock traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.33. 462,253 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,800,362. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.93. Sony has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $30.34.

Sony (NYSE:SONY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, August 1st. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.08. Sony had a positive return on equity of 13.06% and a negative net margin of 2.00%.The company had revenue of $17.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $42.84 EPS. Sony's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sony will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sony Company Profile

Sony Group Corporation is a Japan-based global entertainment and technology company headquartered in Tokyo. Founded in 1946 as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, the company adopted the Sony name in 1958 and has developed a diversified portfolio spanning consumer electronics, interactive entertainment, music, film and television, and imaging technology.

Sony's Game & Network Services business operates the PlayStation platform and provides hardware, software, digital content and network services.

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