JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 431,238 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,444,914 shares of the company’s stock after selling 431,238 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 2.77% of Warner Music Group worth $491,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,914,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,110,000 after buying an additional 1,837,801 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 4.2% in the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 8,914,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,637,000 after buying an additional 363,092 shares during the period. Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 8,000,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,920,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 178.5% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,183,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,435,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,425 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in Warner Music Group by 112.8% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,226,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,823,000 after buying an additional 1,180,256 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $26.48 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.14 and its 200 day moving average is $30.48. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12 month low of $25.56 and a 12 month high of $34.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30. The company has a market capitalization of $13.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.24.

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). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 38.33%. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 131.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMG. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research upgraded Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.69.

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.