Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. $LYV Position Trimmed by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, but still held about 810,111 shares worth roughly $115.4 million.
• Several insiders sold shares recently, including Director Jeffrey T. Hinson and EVP John Hopmans; insiders have sold 157,798 shares worth about $26.1 million over the last 90 days.
• Analysts remain largely positive on LYV, with 20 Buy ratings and 3 Hold ratings, though the company’s latest quarter showed a larger-than-expected EPS loss even as revenue came in above estimates.

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in shares of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 810,111 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,007 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.35% of Live Nation Entertainment worth $115,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the company's stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,622 shares of the company's stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,665 shares of the company's stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 102.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 166 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 468 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.52% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Live Nation Entertainment news, Director Jeffrey T. Hinson sold 944 shares of the company'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 transaction of $156,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 48,030 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,966,736.10. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Hopmans sold 93,078 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.07, for a total value of $15,457,463.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 188,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,345,878.57. The trade was a 33.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 157,798 shares of company stock valued at $26,088,615 over the last 90 days. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LYV shares. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Live Nation Entertainment from $205.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Citizens Jmp began coverage on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research report on Monday, March 30th. They issued a "market outperform" rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Live Nation Entertainment from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $203.00 to $199.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $187.75.

Live Nation Entertainment Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Live Nation Entertainment stock opened at $167.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -94.38 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $159.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.46. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.34 and a 12-month high of $175.25.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($1.85) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.35) by ($1.50). The company had revenue of $3.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.57 billion. Live Nation Entertainment had a return on equity of 45.92% and a net margin of 0.15%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.32) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Live Nation Entertainment Company Profile

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.

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