Sony (NYSE:SONY) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Sony (NYSE:SONY) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

SONY has been the topic of a number of other reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sony in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Sony from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Sony in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sony has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

Sony Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of SONY stock opened at $23.81 on Friday. Sony has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $30.34. The stock has a market cap of $140.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.29 and a 200 day moving average of $21.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Sony (NYSE:SONY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, August 1st. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $17.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.17 billion. Sony had a positive return on equity of 13.06% and a negative net margin of 2.00%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $42.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sony will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Sony news, insider Robert Adrian Stringer sold 545,547 shares of Sony stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.49, for a total transaction of $12,269,352.03. Following the sale, the insider owned 100,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,261,302.03. The trade was a 84.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Ravi Ahuja sold 15,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total transaction of $353,821.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 22,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $501,800.16. The trade was a 41.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 1,350,065 shares of company stock valued at $29,878,266 in the last three months. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sony

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SONY. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in Sony by 337.6% in the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,949,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,504,035 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Sony during the first quarter worth about $23,933,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Sony by 422.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 16,094 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Sony during the first quarter worth about $39,998,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sony by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 973,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,913,000 after purchasing an additional 212,971 shares during the period. 14.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Sony News

Here are the key news stories impacting Sony this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic image-sensor investment: Sony and TSMC reportedly plan to invest approximately $6.3 billion in a Japanese joint venture to manufacture next-generation microchips for image sensors. The deal combines Sony’s sensor technology with TSMC’s manufacturing capacity and could strengthen Sony’s position in smartphone cameras and other high-growth imaging markets. Reuters report on Sony and TSMC image-sensor investment Bloomberg report on Sony and TSMC joint chip plant
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum remains favorable: Zacks highlighted Sony as a strong momentum stock, while industry coverage said Sony continues to lead the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor image-sensor market. These reports reinforce the view that Sony’s semiconductor business has competitive scale and demand support. Zacks momentum analysis Image-sensor industry report
• Neutral Sentiment: Limited-impact coverage: Positive reviews of Sony headphones and discussion of PlayStation disc availability offer product visibility but do not materially change near-term earnings expectations. A Wall Street Zen downgrade to “Hold” also provides a cautious valuation signal, but is less significant than the new semiconductor plans. Wall Street Zen rating report
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: An insider reportedly sold about $12.3 million of Sony stock. The transaction may weigh modestly on sentiment, although a single insider sale does not necessarily indicate weakening company fundamentals. Sony insider-selling report

About Sony

Sony Group Corporation (NYSE: SONY) is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Founded in 1946 by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita, Sony has grown from an electronics maker into a diversified global company with operations spanning consumer electronics, entertainment, gaming, semiconductors and financial services. The company’s shares trade in Japan and its American Depositary Receipts trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SONY.

Sony’s primary businesses include Electronics Products & Solutions, which covers televisions, audio equipment, digital cameras and professional broadcast systems; Game & Network Services, anchored by the PlayStation platform, consoles, software and online services; Music and Pictures, through Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment, producing, distributing and licensing recorded music, film and television content; Imaging & Sensing Solutions, which develops CMOS image sensors and other semiconductor components; and Financial Services, offering life insurance, banking and other financial products in Japan.