Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG Shares Bought by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 43.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 570,488 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 173,680 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $14,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,645,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,511,000 after buying an additional 2,200,362 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 178.5% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,183,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,435,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,425 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 112.8% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,226,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,256 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,449,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,821,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Warner Music Group stock opened at $28.33 on Monday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12 month low of $23.34 and a 12 month high of $35.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.07. The stock has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.30.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.14. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 62.01% and a net margin of 6.34%.The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 89.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WMG shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Warner Music Group from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Warner Music Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 price objective on Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.43.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

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.