Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Position Increased by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 13,172.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,483 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 125,530 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $3,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darsana Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at $2,570,000. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 332,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,406,000 after acquiring an additional 14,579 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 91.5% during the 3rd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 5,264,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,779,000 after acquiring an additional 2,514,715 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $354,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,198.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 507,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,886,000 after purchasing an additional 485,447 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $32.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $16.75 billion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.68. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $27.06 and a 52-week high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 69.29% and a net margin of 6.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 86.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WMG. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Tigress Financial cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays lowered their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.67.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $12,007,352.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,289,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,113,588. This represents a 15.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

Warner Music Group Corp. operates as a music entertainment company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through Recorded Music and Music Publishing segments. The Recorded Music segment is involved in the discovery and development of recording artists, as well as related marketing, promotion, distribution, sale, and licensing of music created by such recording artists; markets its music catalog through compilations and reissuances of previously released music and video titles, as well as previously unreleased materials; and conducts its operation primarily through a collection of record labels, such as Warner Records and Atlantic Records, as well as Asylum, Big Beat, Canvasback, East West, Erato, FFRR, Fueled by Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Reprise, Roadrunner, Sire, Spinnin’ Records, Warner Classics, and Warner Music Nashville.