31,193 Shares in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Bought by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 31,193 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $976,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company's stock worth $257,207,000 after purchasing an additional 7,923,926 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP purchased a new position in Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $160,156,000. D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the second quarter worth $84,281,000. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $247,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 19.6% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,061,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $155,122,000 after purchasing an additional 831,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of Warner Music Group stock traded up $0.66 during trading on Friday, reaching $32.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,251,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,797,618. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.64. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $38.05. The firm has a market cap of $16.79 billion, a PE ratio of 39.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.20). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is 86.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $12,007,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,289,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,113,588. This represents a 15.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 73.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WMG shares. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, 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 report on Friday, October 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.67.

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.