Ardmore Road Asset Management LP Has $18.60 Million Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Ardmore Road Asset Management LP raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 100.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 600,000 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 300,000 shares during the quarter. Warner Music Group comprises 2.7% of Ardmore Road Asset Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP owned 0.12% of Warner Music Group worth $18,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 3,752 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $976,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew 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 valued at $15,886,000 after purchasing an additional 485,447 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 13,172.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 126,483 shares of the company's stock worth $3,959,000 after purchasing an additional 125,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,247,719 shares of the company's stock worth $70,354,000 after buying an additional 10,222 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WMG shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. FBN Securities started coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. The trade was a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $31,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432 over the last three months. Insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 4.7 %

WMG traded down $1.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.48. 3,950,729 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,967,218. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $33.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.06. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $36.64. The stock has a market cap of $15.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. Equities analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is 73.47%.

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.