Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 36.6%, owning approximately 15.3 million shares valued at $479.6 million.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" on Warner Music Group, with price targets ranging up to $34.00.
• Warner Music Group recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.19 per share, reflecting a 2.4% dividend yield.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 36.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,296,700 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,097,688 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 2.94% of Warner Music Group worth $479,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 101.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 45.2% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,820 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WMG. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $34.00 price objective (down from $35.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.88.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:WMG traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.53. 2,472,731 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,357,548. The company has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a PE ratio of 57.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.26. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $25.56 and a 1 year high of $36.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $29.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.18.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 39.95%. Warner Music Group's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. This is a boost from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 126.32%.

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.