Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Invests $1.22 Million in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 39,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,223,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Warner Music Group by 379.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WMG shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. The trade was a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.6 %

WMG stock opened at $30.05 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $31.43 and its 200 day moving average is $30.74. The firm has a market cap of $15.57 billion, a PE ratio of 36.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.35. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $38.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly 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 business 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%. Warner Music Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 86.75%.

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.