The Madison Square Garden Company $MSGS Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company has reduced its stake in The Madison Square Garden Company by 16.0%, now owning approximately 0.89% of the company valued at $41.74 million.
• Madison Square Garden reported a significant earnings surprise with a loss of (0.07) earnings per share, beating analysts' expectations of (0.42) and achieving $203.96 million in revenue for the last quarter.
• Analysts have given Madison Square Garden a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price averaging $253.60, indicating positive future expectations from multiple analysts.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS - Free Report) by 16.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 214,380 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,959 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.89% of Madison Square Garden worth $41,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Madison Square Garden in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Madison Square Garden in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Madison Square Garden by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 416 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in Madison Square Garden in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in Madison Square Garden in the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. 68.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Madison Square Garden Stock Performance

Shares of Madison Square Garden stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $196.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 157,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 156,837. The Madison Square Garden Company has a twelve month low of $173.26 and a twelve month high of $237.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $201.79 and a 200-day moving average of $196.38. The stock has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -213.22 and a beta of 0.78.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.35. Madison Square Garden had a negative return on equity of 1.76% and a negative net margin of 2.16%.The firm had revenue of $203.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. Madison Square Garden's revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Madison Square Garden Company will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Madison Square Garden from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $253.60.

Madison Square Garden Profile

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. operates as a professional sports company in the United States. The company owns and operates a portfolio of assets that consists of the New York Knickerbockers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. Its other professional franchises include development league teams, the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League and the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League.