Cooke & Bieler LP Sells 1,314,127 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Cooke & Bieler LP decreased its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 28.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,306,697 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,314,127 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $91,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 108.6% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Daytona Street Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 2.4% in the third quarter. Daytona Street Capital LLC now owns 65,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 19,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 5,533 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $372,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 1,072.2% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 580,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,717,000 after buying an additional 531,077 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $31.44 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.16 and a 200 day moving average of $28.76. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $23.34 and a 52 week high of $35.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 85.50% and a net margin of 9.20%. Warner Music Group’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 63.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Warner Music Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Stonex Financia raised Warner Music Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Warner Music Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.27.

Warner Music Group Profile

Warner Music Group Corp. is a global music entertainment company that develops, records, distributes and promotes music. Its recorded-music operations work with artists across a range of genres and release music through labels including Atlantic Records, Warner Records, Elektra Music Group and Parlophone. The company distributes music through streaming platforms, digital services, physical formats and other channels.

Warner Music Group also operates Warner Chappell Music, one of the world’s major music publishing companies.