TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:TKO) Short Interest Update

TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:TKO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 10,223,670 shares, an increase of 61.7% from the February 26th total of 6,321,729 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,396,973 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.3 days. Currently, 11.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $210.00 price target on shares of TKO Group in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of TKO Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of TKO Group in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. BTIG Research decreased their price target on shares of TKO Group from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered TKO Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TKO Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.73.

TKO Group Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:TKO traded down $3.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $189.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,541,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,260,510. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. TKO Group has a 1 year low of $133.07 and a 1 year high of $226.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $204.83 and a 200-day moving average of $199.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.72 billion, a PE ratio of 84.06 and a beta of 0.66.

TKO Group (NYSE:TKO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.20). TKO Group had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 2.07%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that TKO Group will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

TKO Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. TKO Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 138.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Shane Kapral sold 254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.15, for a total transaction of $50,584.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 99 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,715.85. This represents a 71.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Nick Khan sold 9,518 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.29, for a total value of $2,096,720.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 110,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,242,473.92. The trade was a 7.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 169,055 shares of company stock valued at $34,535,105 in the last ninety days. 61.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of TKO Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amundi boosted its position in TKO Group by 338.7% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of TKO Group by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of TKO Group by 4,722.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 8,595 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in TKO Group during the first quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in TKO Group by 127.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.79% of the company’s stock.

TKO Group Company Profile

TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO) is a global sports and entertainment company formed in 2023 through the combination of two major combat-sports businesses. The company brings together the mixed martial arts organization UFC and the sports entertainment business WWE under a single publicly traded holding company. TKO owns and manages a portfolio of live-event franchises, intellectual property, and media rights centered on combat and sports-entertainment content.

TKO’s core activities include the promotion and production of live events, the licensing and sale of broadcasting and streaming rights, and the development and commercialization of branded consumer products.