Sphere Entertainment (NYSE:SPHR) Shares Down 2.6% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE:SPHR) traded down 2.6% on Tuesday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $43.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Sphere Entertainment traded as low as $40.62 and last traded at $40.69. 138,724 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 709,534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.77.

SPHR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Sphere Entertainment from $38.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Sphere Entertainment from $48.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Sphere Entertainment from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Benchmark reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Sphere Entertainment in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Sphere Entertainment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sphere Entertainment

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPHR. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Sphere Entertainment by 8.2% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 5,538,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,167,000 after acquiring an additional 419,581 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sphere Entertainment by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,807,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,787,000 after purchasing an additional 17,613 shares in the last quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Sphere Entertainment by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,542,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,804,000 after purchasing an additional 106,651 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Sphere Entertainment by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,534,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,095,000 after buying an additional 299,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in shares of Sphere Entertainment by 7.7% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 960,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,145,000 after buying an additional 69,001 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.03% of the company’s stock.

Sphere Entertainment Trading Down 3.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Sphere Entertainment (NYSE:SPHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($2.00) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.47) by $0.47. Sphere Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 9.02% and a negative net margin of 19.54%. The company had revenue of $273.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $271.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $15.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 111.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Sphere Entertainment Co. will post -6.9 earnings per share for the current year.

About Sphere Entertainment

Sphere Entertainment Co engages in the entertainment business. It produces, presents, or hosts various live entertainment events, including concerts, family shows, and special events, as well as sporting events, such as professional boxing, college basketball and hockey, professional bull riding, mixed martial arts, and esports and wrestling in its venues, including The Garden, Hulu Theater, Radio City Music Hall, and the Beacon Theatre in New York City; and The Chicago Theatre.