Sphere Entertainment (NYSE:SPHR) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

Sphere Entertainment (NYSE:SPHR) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Research Partners set a $160.00 price target on shares of Sphere Entertainment in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 price objective (down from $185.00) on shares of Sphere Entertainment in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $200.00 target price on shares of Sphere Entertainment in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. New Street Research set a $188.00 target price on shares of Sphere Entertainment in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sphere Entertainment from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.27.

Sphere Entertainment Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SPHR opened at $109.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.52. Sphere Entertainment has a 12-month low of $64.00 and a 12-month high of $181.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.70 and a beta of 1.61.

Sphere Entertainment (NYSE:SPHR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($1.07) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.51) by $0.44. Sphere Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 1.38% and a negative net margin of 6.19%. The firm had revenue of $313.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $307.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sphere Entertainment will post -2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Sphere Entertainment by 114.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 871,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,162,000 after purchasing an additional 464,609 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Sphere Entertainment by 149.9% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 559,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,736,000 after buying an additional 335,900 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Sphere Entertainment by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 523,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,510,000 after buying an additional 104,192 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its position in Sphere Entertainment by 118.9% in the 3rd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 447,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,227,000 after buying an additional 243,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Sphere Entertainment by 75.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 146,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,232,000 after buying an additional 63,080 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.03% of the company’s stock.

About Sphere Entertainment

Sphere Entertainment Co is an entertainment and media company focused on immersive live experiences and sports and entertainment programming. Its principal asset is Sphere, a next-generation venue in Las Vegas featuring a large exterior LED display, a high-resolution interior screen, advanced audio technology and immersive production capabilities.

Sphere presents concerts, residencies, films and other experiences, while its Sphere Studios business develops original content and technology for the venue and other immersive applications.