Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 3,095 Shares of The Madison Square Garden Company $MSGS

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lowered its stake in The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,325 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,095 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Madison Square Garden were worth $21,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Madison Square Garden during the second quarter worth $39,215,000. Bollard Group LLC bought a new stake in Madison Square Garden in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,283,000. Scopus Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Madison Square Garden in the 2nd quarter worth $14,787,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Madison Square Garden by 1,021.4% in the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in Madison Square Garden by 215.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 56,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,785,000 after purchasing an additional 38,497 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on MSGS shares. Wolfe Research downgraded Madison Square Garden from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a report on Monday, December 29th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Madison Square Garden from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Four equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.00.

Insider Transactions at Madison Square Garden

In related news, Director Charles P. Dolan sold 5,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.26, for a total transaction of $1,840,646.34. Following the sale, the director owned 435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,488.10. This represents a 92.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 19.07% of the company’s stock.

Madison Square Garden Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of MSGS stock opened at $313.76 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $289.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $244.84. The Madison Square Garden Company has a 1 year low of $173.26 and a 1 year high of $345.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -454.72 and a beta of 0.56.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.32). The firm had revenue of $403.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.58 million. Madison Square Garden’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Madison Square Garden Company will post 0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Madison Square Garden 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.