Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG Shares Purchased by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC raised its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 5,055.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,860,687 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,824,596 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.36% of Warner Music Group worth $63,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. IFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $385,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 2.7% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 854,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,100,000 after purchasing an additional 22,120 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter worth $1,058,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 113.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 181,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,166,000 after purchasing an additional 96,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter valued at $2,144,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 4.3%

NASDAQ WMG opened at $27.84 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.70. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $34.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a PE ratio of 48.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.24.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Warner Music Group’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 131.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMG. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Zacks Research raised Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.69.

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.