45,986 Shares in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG Bought by Partners Group Holding AG

Key Points

• Partners Group Holding AG opened a new position in Warner Music Group, buying 45,986 shares valued at about $1.41 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional interest in WMG remains strong, with several large investors sharply increasing holdings and institutions/hedge funds now owning 96.88% of the stock.
• Warner Music Group beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting $0.44 EPS versus $0.30 expected and revenue of $1.73 billion; analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $37.38.

Partners Group Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 45,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,410,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMG. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 6,227.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,173,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,139,067 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 178.5% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,183,654 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,435,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,425 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 12.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,914,577 shares of the company's stock valued at $576,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837,801 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 5,055.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,860,687 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,824,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its stake in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WMG. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Warner Music Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.38.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Warner Music Group stock opened at $34.29 on Wednesday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $23.34 and a 12-month high of $34.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. The stock has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a PE ratio of 40.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $28.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.04.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.14. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 62.01%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.41%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WMG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.