Short Interest in TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:TKO) Declines By 13.7%

TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:TKO - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,840,000 shares, a decline of 13.7% from the April 30th total of 6,770,000 shares. Currently, 8.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sonya E. Medina bought 233 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $142.93 per share, with a total value of $33,302.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $285,860. This represents a 13.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Lake West Voteco L.L.C Silver bought 1,579,080 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $158.32 per share, for a total transaction of $249,999,945.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,158,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $658,376,411.44. The trade was a 61.22% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 61.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of TKO Group by 425.0% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 168 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TKO Group during the first quarter worth $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TKO Group by 559.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 178 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TKO Group during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of TKO Group in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TKO. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of TKO Group from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Susquehanna initiated coverage on shares of TKO Group in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "positive" rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised TKO Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Pivotal Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of TKO Group in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Benchmark restated a "hold" rating on shares of TKO Group in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $168.08.

TKO Group Price Performance

Shares of TKO Group stock traded down $2.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $166.09. The stock had a trading volume of 789,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,113,022. The business has a fifty day moving average of $156.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.36. TKO Group has a fifty-two week low of $100.76 and a fifty-two week high of $179.09. The firm has a market cap of $32.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -395.45 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

TKO Group (NYSE:TKO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. TKO Group had a negative net margin of 1.26% and a positive return on equity of 3.39%. TKO Group's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.26) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that TKO Group will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TKO Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. TKO Group's payout ratio is 77.16%.

About TKO Group

TKO Group Holdings, Inc operates as a sports and entertainment company. The company produces and licenses live events, television programs, and long-form and short-form content, reality series, and other filmed entertainment on digital and linear channels and via pay-per-view. It is involved in the merchandising of video games, apparel, equipment, trading cards, memorabilia, digital goods, and toys, as well as sale of travel packages and tickets.