Insider Selling: Sony (NYSE:SONY) CEO Sells $4,729,500.00 in Stock

Sony Corporation (NYSE:SONY) CEO Hiroki Totoki sold 225,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total value of $4,729,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 173,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,641,715. This trade represents a 56.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Sony Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of SONY stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $21.41. 2,350,009 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,291,482. The firm has a market cap of $126.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -107.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.94. Sony Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $30.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.09.

Sony (NYSE:SONY) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $19.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.43 billion. Sony had a negative net margin of 2.61% and a positive return on equity of 12.20%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $32.86 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Sony Corporation will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on SONY. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of Sony in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sony in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Sony in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Sony in the 2nd quarter worth about $272,000. Somerset Trust Co increased its stake in Sony by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 21,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of Sony by 5,911.4% during the 2nd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 2,069 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Sony by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 206,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,271,000 after buying an additional 10,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sony by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 36,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 3,520 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.05% of the company’s stock.

About Sony

Sony Group Corporation (NYSE: SONY) is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Founded in 1946 by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita, Sony has grown from an electronics maker into a diversified global company with operations spanning consumer electronics, entertainment, gaming, semiconductors and financial services. The company’s shares trade in Japan and its American Depositary Receipts trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SONY.

Sony’s primary businesses include Electronics Products & Solutions, which covers televisions, audio equipment, digital cameras and professional broadcast systems; Game & Network Services, anchored by the PlayStation platform, consoles, software and online services; Music and Pictures, through Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment, producing, distributing and licensing recorded music, film and television content; Imaging & Sensing Solutions, which develops CMOS image sensors and other semiconductor components; and Financial Services, offering life insurance, banking and other financial products in Japan.