Modera Wealth Management LLC Increases Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 128.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,274 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 57,478 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $2,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 36.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,296,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,552,000 after purchasing an additional 4,097,688 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,379,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,803,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,979 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 127.0% during the first quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 13,378,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,427,000 after purchasing an additional 7,483,839 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,147,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,253,000 after buying an additional 11,566 shares during the period. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 1,048,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,550,000 after buying an additional 33,652 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 1.6%

WMG opened at $30.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $32.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.41. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $36.64. The stock has a market cap of $15.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.30.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 39.95%. Warner Music Group’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 price target on Warner Music Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Warner Music Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.76.

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.