Assetmark Inc. Raises Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 15.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,988 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,155 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $3,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 122.6% during the 4th 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. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 101.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 71.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wolfe Research raised Warner Music Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.72.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 4.3%

Shares of WMG stock opened at $29.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.13. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $25.56 and a twelve month high of $36.64. The company has a market capitalization of $15.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.14, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.43.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.21). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 64.64%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.76%.

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.