Independent Franchise Partners LLP Invests $160.16 Million in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Independent Franchise Partners LLP bought a new stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,225,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,156,000. Warner Music Group comprises about 1.5% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Independent Franchise Partners LLP owned approximately 1.01% of Warner Music Group as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 74.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 5,790.5% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 66.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on WMG shares. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “sell” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, July 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Finally, Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.69.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of WMG stock opened at $30.44 on Friday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $27.06 and a 12-month high of $38.05. The company has a market capitalization of $15.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 101.32% and a net margin of 8.56%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 72.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Warner Music Group news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $12,007,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,289,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,113,588. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757. 73.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.