State Street Corp Has $70.35 Million Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,247,719 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,222 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $70,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 101.0% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 82,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,543,000 after buying an additional 41,687 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 66.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,226,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the second quarter valued at about $10,491,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 54.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 768,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,568,000 after purchasing an additional 271,524 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG stock opened at $31.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.23 and a 200-day moving average of $30.74. The company has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. 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 Corp. has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 86.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. Tigress Financial decreased their price objective on Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.67.

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.