Vanguard Group Inc. Has $576.11 Million Stock Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,914,577 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,837,801 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 3.24% of Warner Music Group worth $576,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMG. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 57.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Financial Services increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 9,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 34,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $936,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $956,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 16,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on WMG. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Moffett Nathanson began coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.69.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 3.7%

WMG stock opened at $27.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.24. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $25.56 and a twelve month high of $36.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 38.33%. Warner Music Group’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 131.03%.

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is a major global music company that operates across recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music business comprises a portfolio of well-known labels—including Atlantic, Warner Records and Parlophone—as well as distribution and artist-services operations that support both established and emerging artists. The company’s publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, manages songwriting catalogs and administers rights for compositions across multiple media, providing licensing for film, television, advertising and other commercial uses.

WMG’s activities span the full music value chain: signing and developing artists, producing and marketing recordings, distributing music through physical channels and streaming platforms, and monetizing rights through licensing, synchronization and neighboring-rights collection.