Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,444,914 shares of the company’s stock after selling 431,238 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 2.77% of Warner Music Group worth $491,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 6,227.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,173,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,027,000 after buying an additional 2,139,067 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,485,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 8,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,873,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 293.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,287,000 after purchasing an additional 475,929 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

WMG opened at $29.25 on Thursday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $25.56 and a 1 year high of $36.10. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.06. The stock has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a PE ratio of 50.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.24.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 38.33% and a net margin of 4.43%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 131.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WMG shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. UBS Group set a $33.00 price target on Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.