JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $347.17 Million Stock Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 27.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,199,012 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,444,508 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 2.16% of Warner Music Group worth $347,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 904,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,320,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 9.1% during the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 11,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $976,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,198.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 507,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,886,000 after acquiring an additional 485,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $354,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. FBN Securities began coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.76.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ WMG opened at $31.56 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.05. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $36.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. On average, analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total transaction of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares in the company, valued at $3,234,802.01. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.