Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Has $67.71 Million Stock Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,163,286 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 163,247 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned 0.42% of Warner Music Group worth $67,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Warner Music Group in the first quarter valued at $759,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Warner Music Group by 289.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 92,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,066,000 after buying an additional 69,089 shares in the last quarter. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. acquired a new position in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $606,000. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 108.7% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 70,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 36,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter valued at $15,766,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMG shares. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. Redburn Atlantic restated a “sell” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.17.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ WMG opened at $31.96 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $30.44 and its 200-day moving average is $30.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.38. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 101.32%. Equities research analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.23%.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total value of $3,812,077.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,725,964 shares in the company, valued at $76,790,405.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757. Insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

About Warner Music Group

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.