Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $120.77.

LYV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $123.00 target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $132.00 target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th.

Live Nation Entertainment Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LYV traded down $0.27 on Friday, hitting $114.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,652,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,121,000. Live Nation Entertainment has a 1-year low of $76.48 and a 1-year high of $116.57. The stock has a market cap of $26.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $102.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.22.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. Live Nation Entertainment had a net margin of 2.20% and a return on equity of 84.78%. Live Nation Entertainment's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.02 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Live Nation Entertainment will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Live Nation Entertainment

In other news, EVP Michael Rowles sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.64, for a total value of $3,417,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 167,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,349,525.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Michael Rowles sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.64, for a total value of $3,417,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 167,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,349,525.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joe Berchtold sold 29,310 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.50, for a total value of $2,857,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 566,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,255,395. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 177,000 shares of company stock valued at $17,238,181. 2.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in Live Nation Entertainment by 119.5% during the 2nd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 371 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in Live Nation Entertainment by 90.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 335 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Live Nation Entertainment by 67.4% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 437 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Live Nation Entertainment during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Live Nation Entertainment during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.52% of the company's stock.

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc operates as a live entertainment company worldwide. It operates through Concerts, Ticketing, and Sponsorship & Advertising segments. The Concerts segment promotes live music events in its owned or operated venues, and in rented third-party venues. This segment operates and manages music venues; produces music festivals; creates and streams associated content; and offers management and other services to artists.