Ardmore Road Asset Management LP Boosts Position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Ardmore Road Asset Management LP increased its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 100.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 600,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares during the period. Warner Music Group makes up about 2.7% of Ardmore Road Asset Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $18,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,169,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444,508 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400,500 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,644,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,009,000 after acquiring an additional 16,410 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,247,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,354,000 after purchasing an additional 10,222 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,140,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,361,000 after acquiring an additional 437,077 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of WMG stock opened at $31.32 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $36.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.09 and a 200-day moving average of $32.08. The firm has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. On average, equities analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.47%.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total transaction of $40,248.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,234,802.01. The trade was a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 72.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.76.

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.