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

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

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Guggenheim lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays lowered 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, UBS Group dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.31.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $29.56 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $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 has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $38.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.61, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 69.29% and a net margin of 6.77%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 242,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 73.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Concord Wealth Partners bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 379.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth $73,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.