Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Price

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $38.00 to $37.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

WMG has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.31.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG traded up $0.22 during trading on Monday, hitting $29.56. 2,059,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,381,396. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $27.06 and a 12-month high of $38.05. The company has a market cap of $15.31 billion, a PE ratio of 35.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.77. 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 earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 69.29% and a net margin of 6.77%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 86.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP bought a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $160,156,000. D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the second quarter valued at $84,281,000. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 47.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,594,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 37.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company's stock worth $274,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370,973 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.