According to a recent 13G filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Vincent K. McMahon has converted (into Class A) and then sold around 1.55 million Class B Common Shares of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc (NYSE:WWE), decreasing his stake in the company to 35.53 million Class B Common Shares, which amass 48% of the company’s outstanding stock. WWE’s Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO still controls 85% of his company’s voting power through his Class B (voting) shares. The sale netted Mr. McMahon (as he was also colloquially known at times during his performing days) about $32 million, which the filing stated would be used for estate planning purposes. Mr. McMahon has no intention to sell further shares of his company at this time.
The percentage is calculated on an assumed conversion of all of the shares of the company’s Class B Common Stock, to which the filing relates, into Class A Common Stock. The filing also revealed that the number of shares which Mr. McMahon now holds excludes 566,670 shares of Class B Common Stock, and 100 Class A Common Shares owned by his wife and WWE Co-Founder Linda E. McMahon. The move comes a few months after the McMahon’s Trust sold 2.19 million shares. It also comes about one year after their daughter Stephanie McMahon (now Stephanie Levesque) sold 105,000 shares.
World Wrestling Entertainment is a wrestling promotion company that produces and promotes a plethora of creative content through a variety of channels to a global audience, with its main goal being the promotion of professional wrestling competitions. In July, the company was hit with another lawsuit from a group of retired wrestlers for the neurological injuries they suffered while competing in the company’s events. Year-to-date, the company’s stock is up by 17.1%. For the second quarter, WWE reported earnings per share of $0.01, slightly below the consensus estimate of $0.02, and revenue of $199 million, well above the estimates of $181.8 million. Earlier this month, Pacific Crest reiterated its ‘Overweight’ rating on World Wrestling Entertainment’s stock, and has a price target of $22 on it, while Benchmark Co. reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating on the stock, and has a price target of $21.86 on its shares.
Some of the investors in our database that were bullish on World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE) at the end of the second quarter were David Forster and Peter Wilton’s IBIS Capital Partners, with a position worth $11.04 million, and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, which sold off its position of Put options valued at $442,000 on March 31 and initiated a new long position worth $5.53 million on June 30. Mario Cibelli of Marathon Partners and the similar-sounding Mario Gabelli of GAMCO Investors are two other hedge funds long WWE as of June 30.
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You can access the original SEC filing by clicking here.
Ownership Summary Table
| Name | Sole Voting Power | Shared Voting Power | Sole Dispositive Power | Shared Dispositive Power | Aggregate Amount Owned Power | Percent of Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vincent K. McMahon | 35,533,375 | 0 | 35,533,375 | 0 | 35,533,375 | 48% |
Page 1 of 6 – SEC Filing
