Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 45.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 46,684 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,239 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $1,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WMG. FMR LLC increased its position in Warner Music Group by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,534,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,374,000 after purchasing an additional 202,147 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Warner Music Group by 2.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,984,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,923,000 after acquiring an additional 302,892 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,193,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,862,000 after acquiring an additional 36,322 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 306.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,375,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 1,711.7% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 903,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,362,000 after purchasing an additional 853,384 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $35.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.50, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $18.46 billion, a PE ratio of 40.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.11. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1-year low of $23.62 and a 1-year high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.13). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 128.86%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 77.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Redburn Atlantic raised Warner Music Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.18.

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.