Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG Shares Sold by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 25.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 191,779 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,121 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $6,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 774.6% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Stance Capital LLC acquired a new position in Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,361,000. DigitalBridge Group Inc. lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 1,136,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,704,000 after acquiring an additional 330,257 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,688,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 156.8% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 42,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 25,998 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Scotiabank raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.69.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Warner Music Group stock opened at $24.60 on Thursday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $24.59 and a 52 week high of $34.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30. The stock has a market cap of $12.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.04 and a 200-day moving average of $30.43.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 38.33% and a net margin of 4.43%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 131.03%.

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is a major global music company that operates across recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music business comprises a portfolio of well-known labels—including Atlantic, Warner Records and Parlophone—as well as distribution and artist-services operations that support both established and emerging artists. The company’s publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, manages songwriting catalogs and administers rights for compositions across multiple media, providing licensing for film, television, advertising and other commercial uses.

WMG’s activities span the full music value chain: signing and developing artists, producing and marketing recordings, distributing music through physical channels and streaming platforms, and monetizing rights through licensing, synchronization and neighboring-rights collection.