Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Price Target Cut to $40.00 by Analysts at Guggenheim

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its price target reduced by Guggenheim from $44.00 to $40.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

WMG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.40.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 5.6 %

Warner Music Group stock opened at $29.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.68. Warner Music Group has a 52-week low of $27.06 and a 52-week high of $38.05. The firm has a market cap of $15.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly 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). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 86.75%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In other news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 74.5% in 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 bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth $73,000. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

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.