AlphaQuest LLC Has $817,000 Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 251.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,001 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,167 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 8,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 8.1% in the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 110,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,767,000 after buying an additional 8,318 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 149.8% during the third quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 153,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,226,000 after buying an additional 92,014 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 762.5% during the third quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 74,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,532,000 after buying an additional 65,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital City Trust Co. FL lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 14,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WMG. Zacks Research upgraded Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Monday, December 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.35.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.7%

Warner Music Group stock opened at $30.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The firm has a market cap of $15.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.14, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.25.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 47.78%. Warner Music Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 108.57%.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

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.