Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Trims Stock Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lowered its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 90.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,813 shares of the company’s stock after selling 303,808 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 774.6% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in Warner Music Group by 480.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 355.7% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $25.96 on Monday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $23.34 and a twelve month high of $35.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. The company has a market cap of $13.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.54, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.86.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 62.01%. Warner Music Group’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMG. Zacks Research downgraded Warner Music Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.43.

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.