Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Holdings in The Madison Square Garden Company $MSGS

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in The Madison Square Garden Company (MSGS) by 11.1%, owning approximately 1.73 million shares worth $336.76 million after the sale.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on MSGS, with ratings ranging from "hold" to "buy" and target prices varying from $220 to $314.
• The Madison Square Garden Company's recent earnings report beat analysts' expectations, showing a revenue of $203.96 million despite a 10.3% year-over-year decline.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,729,450 shares of the company's stock after selling 215,744 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 7.20% of Madison Square Garden worth $336,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSGS. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,914 shares of the company's stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Marest Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 4.1% during the first quarter. Marest Capital LLC now owns 1,751 shares of the company's stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 10,528 shares of the company's stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Madison Square Garden during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,442 shares of the company's stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSGS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Madison Square Garden from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Madison Square Garden from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $314.00 price target on shares of Madison Square Garden in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Susquehanna started coverage on shares of Madison Square Garden in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They set a "positive" rating and a $254.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $253.60.

Madison Square Garden Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:MSGS traded up $1.3160 on Thursday, hitting $196.8460. The stock had a trading volume of 134,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 205,796. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -213.96 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $201.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.24. The Madison Square Garden Company has a 1-year low of $173.26 and a 1-year high of $237.99.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.35. The company had revenue of $203.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.00 million. Madison Square Garden had a negative net margin of 2.16% and a negative return on equity of 1.76%. Madison Square Garden's revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Madison Square Garden Company will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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.