Fifth Third Bancorp Acquires 4,691 Shares of The Madison Square Garden Company $MSGS

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) by 3,580.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,822 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,691 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Madison Square Garden were worth $1,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSGS. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in Madison Square Garden by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 394,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,984,000 after buying an additional 3,607 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 1,394.6% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 16,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,241,000 after acquiring an additional 15,299 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Madison Square Garden by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 11,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,051,000 after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 613,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,654,000 after purchasing an additional 6,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Madison Square Garden by 46.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,956,000 after purchasing an additional 6,041 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.94% of the company’s stock.

Madison Square Garden Price Performance

MSGS opened at $395.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -424.99 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $379.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $334.31. The Madison Square Garden Company has a 1-year low of $188.60 and a 1-year high of $411.73.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($1.39). The company had revenue of $432.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $429.66 million. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.59) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Madison Square Garden Company will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSGS shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Madison Square Garden from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Seaport Research Partners upped their target price on Madison Square Garden from $430.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Madison Square Garden from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Madison Square Garden from $470.00 to $522.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Madison Square Garden from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $442.40.

About Madison Square Garden

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.