Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Given New $37.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $38.00 to $37.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays 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, November 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.31.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $29.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Warner Music Group has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $38.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.77.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 86.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Warner Music Group news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total transaction of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 242,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 74.5% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter worth $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.