Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 155,858 Shares of AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:AMCX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:AMCX) by 88.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,059 shares of the company’s stock after selling 155,858 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AMC Networks were worth $183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in shares of AMC Networks by 361.2% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 93,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 73,216 shares in the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new position in AMC Networks in the second quarter worth $1,569,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in AMC Networks by 194.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 124,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 81,937 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AMC Networks by 72.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 313,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,029,000 after purchasing an additional 132,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of AMC Networks by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 34,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares during the period. 78.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMC Networks Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of AMC Networks stock opened at $9.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $410.32 million, a P/E ratio of 14.76 and a beta of 1.29. AMC Networks Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.08 and a 52-week high of $20.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.61.

AMC Networks (NASDAQ:AMCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $599.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.12 million. AMC Networks had a net margin of 1.45% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AMC Networks Inc. will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMCX. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of AMC Networks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of AMC Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of AMC Networks from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on AMC Networks from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.50.

AMC Networks Profile

AMC Networks Inc, an entertainment company, owns and operates a suite of video entertainment products that are delivered to audiences, a platform to distributors, and advertisers in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Domestic Operations, and International and Other segments.