Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in The Madison Square Garden Company $MSGS

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,855,851 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,828 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 7.73% of Madison Square Garden worth $421,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Madison Square Garden by 5,450.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 111 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Madison Square Garden in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Madison Square Garden in the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Madison Square Garden by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 373 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Madison Square Garden by 313.4% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. 68.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Madison Square Garden from $290.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Madison Square Garden from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Madison Square Garden from $240.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Madison Square Garden has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.00.

Insider Transactions at Madison Square Garden

In other Madison Square Garden news, Director Charles P. Dolan sold 5,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.26, for a total value of $1,840,646.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,488.10. This trade represents a 92.86% 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. Insiders own 19.07% of the company’s stock.

Madison Square Garden Stock Up 1.9%

NYSE MSGS opened at $321.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -466.30 and a beta of 0.61. The Madison Square Garden Company has a 52-week low of $173.26 and a 52-week high of $345.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $281.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $238.94.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.32). The business had revenue of $403.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.58 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Madison Square Garden Company will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.