nVerses Capital LLC Takes $307,000 Position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMG. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 41.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,201,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,903,000 after purchasing an additional 3,881,684 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,861,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,679,000 after buying an additional 192,215 shares during the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 47.4% in the second quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,418,000 after buying an additional 2,594,994 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP bought a new position in Warner Music Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $160,156,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 19.6% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,061,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,122,000 after acquiring an additional 831,114 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMG. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, October 4th. 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 price target on the stock. Finally, Redburn Atlantic reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Warner Music Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total transaction of $3,812,077.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,725,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,790,405.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $32.41 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.86. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $38.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.79 billion, a PE ratio of 32.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.38.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 101.32%. Equities analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current 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 issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 72.00%.

Warner Music Group 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.