Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Acquired by Alps Advisors Inc.

Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 14.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 174,773 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 22,694 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $5,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its position in Warner Music Group by 7,206.3% in the 4th quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 6,000,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,000,000 after buying an additional 5,917,879 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company's stock worth $347,169,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444,508 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $245,531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400,500 shares in the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 10,370,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $321,479,000 after buying an additional 1,500,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Warner Music Group by 148.2% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 344,312 shares of the company's stock worth $10,674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,895 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Warner Music Group stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,222,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,777,474. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.43. The company has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.24. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1-year low of $25.56 and a 1-year high of $36.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.11.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.21). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 64.64% and a net margin of 7.14%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Barclays increased their price target on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America upgraded Warner Music Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.35.

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.