Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) from a "sell" to a "hold" rating.
• Overall analyst consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $183.05 (1 Strong Buy, 19 Buy, 1 Hold, 2 Sell).
• In the latest quarter LYV reported EPS of ($1.06), missing estimates by $0.06, while revenue rose 11.1% to $6.31 billion, topping the $6.12 billion consensus.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

LYV has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Live Nation Entertainment from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $198.00 price objective on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Live Nation Entertainment from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $161.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $183.05.

Live Nation Entertainment Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LYV opened at $156.58 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $149.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -652.42 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. Live Nation Entertainment has a 52 week low of $112.88 and a 52 week high of $175.25.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($1.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.00) by ($0.06). Live Nation Entertainment had a return on equity of 48.11% and a net margin of 1.79%.The business had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Live Nation Entertainment will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Live Nation Entertainment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LYV. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Live Nation Entertainment by 22.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,725,776 shares of the company's stock worth $1,589,196,000 after buying an additional 1,763,511 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment during the 3rd quarter worth $1,606,000. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 11,141 shares of the company's stock worth $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767 shares in the last quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment in the 3rd quarter worth $1,191,000. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment during the third quarter worth $2,015,000. 74.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Live Nation Entertainment

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.