Evercore ISI Has Lowered Expectations for Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Price

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by Evercore ISI from $36.00 to $35.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Evercore ISI's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.45% from the stock's previous close.

WMG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.33.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 5.6 %

WMG traded down $1.73 during trading on Thursday, reaching $29.30. The company had a trading volume of 4,401,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,084,631. The stock has a market cap of $15.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $38.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 73.35% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter worth about $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

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.