Linonia Partnership LP Makes New $21.13 Million Investment in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Linonia Partnership LP bought a new stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 689,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,132,000. Warner Music Group comprises approximately 1.7% of Linonia Partnership LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Linonia Partnership LP owned about 0.13% of Warner Music Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 50,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,000 after acquiring an additional 6,442 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 263.9% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 126,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 91,937 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 89.9% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,050,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,189,000 after acquiring an additional 497,102 shares during the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aristeia Capital L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the second quarter worth approximately $606,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Tigress Financial dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, July 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.92.

Insider Activity

In other Warner Music Group news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,289,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,113,588. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

WMG opened at $31.24 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.05. The stock has a market cap of $16.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1-year low of $27.06 and a 1-year high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.00%.

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.