Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG Shares Acquired by Assetmark Inc.

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 13.3% in Q4 to 396,808 shares (about $12.17M), and institutional investors now own roughly 96.88% of the company.
• Warner reported Q results with an EPS miss ($0.33 vs. $0.40 expected) but revenue beat expectations at $1.84B (up 10.4% year‑over‑year), with analysts projecting about 1.39 EPS for the fiscal year.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.19 (annualized $0.76, yield ~2.6%) but has a high payout ratio (~131%) and trades at a premium valuation (market cap ~$15.5B, P/E ~51).

Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 396,808 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 46,482 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. owned 0.08% of Warner Music Group worth $12,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 5,055.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,860,687 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,596 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 762.5% during the 3rd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 74,332 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,532,000 after purchasing an additional 65,714 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter worth $2,418,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,139,067 shares during the period. Finally, Greenland Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter valued at $2,556,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG stock opened at $29.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.28. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1-year low of $23.34 and a 1-year high of $34.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $27.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.39.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.07). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 38.33% and a net margin of 4.43%.The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is 131.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a "buy" rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.53.

About Warner Music Group

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.