Gabelli Funds LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in The Madison Square Garden Company $MSGS

Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in shares of The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 390,685 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,370 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 1.63% of Madison Square Garden worth $88,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Madison Square Garden in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,215,000. Bollard Group LLC bought a new stake in Madison Square Garden during the second quarter worth $25,283,000. Scopus Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Madison Square Garden in the second quarter worth $14,787,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Madison Square Garden by 1,021.4% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,099,000 after purchasing an additional 44,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in Madison Square Garden by 215.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 56,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,785,000 after purchasing an additional 38,497 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Madison Square Garden

In other Madison Square Garden news, Director Charles P. Dolan sold 5,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.26, for a total transaction of $1,840,646.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 435 shares in the company, valued at $141,488.10. This represents a 92.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 19.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSGS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Madison Square Garden from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Wolfe Research lowered Madison Square Garden from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Madison Square Garden from $240.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Madison Square Garden from $290.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $286.00.

Madison Square Garden Price Performance

Shares of MSGS opened at $313.76 on Friday. The Madison Square Garden Company has a 1-year low of $173.26 and a 1-year high of $345.46. The company has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -454.72 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $289.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $244.17.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.32). The business had revenue of $403.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share. Madison Square Garden’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Madison Square Garden Company will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Madison Square Garden Company Profile

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.