Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) Stock Price

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $204.00 to $203.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 30.16% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on LYV. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Live Nation Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Nation Entertainment from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.62.

Live Nation Entertainment Stock Performance

Live Nation Entertainment stock opened at $155.96 on Thursday. Live Nation Entertainment has a 1-year low of $113.20 and a 1-year high of $175.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $153.82 and its 200 day moving average is $148.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -649.85 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($1.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.00) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. Live Nation Entertainment had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 48.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Live Nation Entertainment will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Live Nation Entertainment

In other Live Nation Entertainment news, Director Jeffrey T. Hinson sold 944 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.87, for a total transaction of $156,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 48,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,966,736.10. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LYV. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Live Nation Entertainment by 1.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,679,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,378,970,000 after purchasing an additional 372,715 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,727,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,528,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001,905 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 5,733,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,055,000 after buying an additional 193,104 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Live Nation Entertainment by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,145,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,829,000 after buying an additional 237,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,301,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $610,707,000 after buying an additional 20,165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.52% of the company’s stock.

Live Nation Entertainment Company Profile

Live Nation Entertainment is a global live entertainment company that promotes, operates and sells tickets for live events. The company’s core activities include concert promotion and production, venue operations and management, ticketing services through its Ticketmaster platform, artist management and development, and sponsorship and advertising services tied to live events. These integrated businesses are designed to connect artists, fans and commercial partners across the live event ecosystem.

The company in its current form was created following the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, combining a promoter and venue operator with one of the industry’s largest ticketing platforms.