Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Given New $39.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Warner Music Group to $39 from $36 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying about 19.8% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $38.60, with 12 analysts rating it Buy or Strong Buy and four rating it Hold.
• WMG shares traded at $32.55 on Friday, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 96.88% of the company.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 19.80% from the company's previous close.

WMG has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Stonex Financial upgraded shares of Warner Music Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.60.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

WMG stock traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.55. 715,354 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,268,239. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $23.34 and a 52 week high of $35.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.34.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMG. Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 0.8% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 11,943,199 shares of the company's stock worth $323,302,000 after buying an additional 93,199 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 88.3% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,521,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,867,000 after buying an additional 713,578 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,111,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 207.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 952,316 shares of the company's stock worth $24,323,000 after buying an additional 642,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ardmore Road Asset Management LP grew its position in Warner Music Group by 61.9% during the first quarter. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP now owns 843,836 shares of the company's stock worth $21,552,000 after buying an additional 322,640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

Warner Music Group is a global music entertainment company with two main businesses: recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded music operations discover and develop artists, release and market recordings, and distribute music through digital services and physical formats. The company works with artists across a range of genres and career stages. Through its recorded music labels, including Atlantic Records, Warner Records and Elektra Records, Warner Music Group supports artists with services such as artist development, marketing and distribution.

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