Royal Bank of Canada Decreases Stock Holdings in Sony Corporation $SONY

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in Sony Corporation by 9.4% in the first quarter, now holding 5,251,587 shares valued at approximately $133.3 million.
• Despite a recent earnings report showing better-than-expected earnings per share of $0.30, Sony's revenue of $17.79 billion fell short of analysts' expectations of $18.88 billion.
• Wall Street analysts have differed in their ratings for Sony, with one **downgrading it from buy to hold**, while the consensus rating remains a "Buy" with an average target price of $28.00.

Royal Bank of Canada decreased its position in Sony Corporation (NYSE:SONY - Free Report) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,251,587 shares of the company's stock after selling 544,623 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.09% of Sony worth $133,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SONY. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Sony in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sony during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in shares of Sony during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sony by 155.4% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Sony during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.05% of the company's stock.

Sony Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE SONY traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.56. The stock had a trading volume of 2,620,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,499,242. The business's 50 day moving average is $26.05 and its 200-day moving average is $25.26. The company has a market cap of $166.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87 and a beta of 0.94. Sony Corporation has a 52 week low of $17.42 and a 52 week high of $29.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Sony (NYSE:SONY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $17.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.88 billion. Sony had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 13.88%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $189.90 earnings per share. Sony has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Sony Corporation will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sony from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $28.00.

Sony Company Profile

Sony Group Corporation designs, develops, produces, and sells electronic equipment, instruments, and devices for the consumer, professional, and industrial markets in Japan, the United States, Europe, China, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company distributes software titles and add-on content through digital networks; network services related to game, video, and music content; and home gaming consoles, packaged and game software, and peripheral devices.