Quest Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 657.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,042 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,717 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,861,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,679,000 after buying an additional 192,215 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 13,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter worth about $523,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter worth about $759,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 175,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,802,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WMG shares. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.79.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ WMG opened at $32.05 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.61. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $27.06 and a 12-month high of $38.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.61, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 86.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Max Lousada sold 64,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $1,809,327.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,909,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,191,171.50. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757. Company 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.