Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Buys 27,821 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 88.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,437 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 27,821 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $1,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMG. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 10.6% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 71.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 8.6% in the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 13,318 shares of the company's stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 101.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 5.3% in the first quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 1,014,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,802,000 after purchasing an additional 51,021 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of Warner Music Group stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $26.34. 1,421,178 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,858,516. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.43, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $25.56 and a 1 year high of $36.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.55.

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

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is 82.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total value of $31,430.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 72.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on WMG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. FBN Securities assumed coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, March 28th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.95.

Warner Music Group 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.