Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) Price Target Raised to $360.00

Key Points

• Citigroup raised Madison Square Garden’s price target from $355 to $360 and kept a neutral rating, implying modest upside from the prior close.
• Other analysts remain mixed: recent moves included a buy rating from Seaport Research Partners and higher targets from Guggenheim and JPMorgan, but the overall consensus remains Hold with an average target of $334.80.
• MSGS shares rose to $346.95, near the 52-week high, even as the company reported a quarterly EPS miss of $0.83 versus $0.56 expected, while revenue slightly topped estimates and grew 1.9% year over year.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Citigroup from $355.00 to $360.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price target suggests a potential upside of 3.76% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MSGS. Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Madison Square Garden from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $430.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Madison Square Garden from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Madison Square Garden from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Madison Square Garden from $355.00 to $401.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Madison Square Garden from $240.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Madison Square Garden currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $334.80.

Madison Square Garden Stock Performance

Shares of Madison Square Garden stock traded up $10.83 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $346.95. The company had a trading volume of 182,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 241,511. The company has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -373.33 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's fifty day moving average is $324.79 and its 200-day moving average is $280.28. Madison Square Garden has a fifty-two week low of $186.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.46.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($1.39). The company had revenue of $432.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $429.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.59) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Madison Square Garden will post -0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles P. Dolan sold 5,659 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.26, for a total transaction of $1,840,646.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,488.10. This trade represents a 92.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 19.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Madison Square Garden

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSGS. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 4.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 5,643 shares of the company's stock worth $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Madison Square Garden by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 27,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Madison Square Garden by 28.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 24,807 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,830,000 after purchasing an additional 5,452 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Madison Square Garden during the 1st quarter valued at $210,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Madison Square Garden by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,055 shares of the company's stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.94% of the company's stock.

About Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp NYSE: MSGS is a leading sports and entertainment holding company focused on professional sports franchises and related media assets. The company owns and operates teams such as the NBA's New York Knicks, the NHL's New York Rangers and the WNBA's New York Liberty. Through these flagship franchises, MSG Sports offers a range of products and services including ticketing, premium seating and sponsorship opportunities, targeting fans in the New York metropolitan area and beyond.

In addition to team operations, Madison Square Garden Sports Corp holds a majority stake in MSG Networks, a regional cable network that broadcasts live sporting events, news and original programming.

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