TKO Group Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:TKO)

TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:TKO) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 4,275 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 221% compared to the typical volume of 1,332 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Shane Kapral sold 254 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.08, for a total transaction of $54,376.32. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,648.96. This represents a 20.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Nick Khan sold 9,519 shares of TKO Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.16, for a total transaction of $1,857,728.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 108,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,269,512.60. The trade was a 8.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 30,334 shares of company stock valued at $5,886,681 over the last three months. 61.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of TKO Group by 20.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,249,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,060,106,000 after buying an additional 887,401 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in TKO Group by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,964,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,530,000 after acquiring an additional 113,996 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of TKO Group by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,057,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,436,000 after purchasing an additional 53,818 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in TKO Group by 26.9% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,806,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,670,000 after buying an additional 383,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in TKO Group by 31.7% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,274,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,326,000 after purchasing an additional 307,000 shares during the last quarter. 89.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TKO Group Price Performance

TKO traded down $1.70 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $214.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 487,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,255,609. The company has a market cap of $41.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.15 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.17. TKO Group has a 1 year low of $133.07 and a 1 year high of $218.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

TKO Group (NYSE:TKO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. TKO Group had a return on equity of 2.57% and a net margin of 5.27%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 27.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that TKO Group will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

TKO Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from TKO Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. TKO Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.54%.

TKO Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 15th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on TKO Group from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $210.00 price target on shares of TKO Group in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of TKO Group in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $227.00 target price on shares of TKO Group in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of TKO Group from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.00.

About TKO Group

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.