Bridges Investment Management Inc. Acquires 9,790 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 42,390 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,790 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $1,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth $30,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 5,790.5% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at $73,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

NASDAQ WMG opened at $33.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.86 and a 200 day moving average of $30.70. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 101.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WMG shares. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Macquarie lowered their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Tigress Financial reduced their price objective on Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $12,007,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,289,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,113,588. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757 in the last ninety days. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Warner Music Group 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.