Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Bought by Brevan Howard Capital Management LP

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 93.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,631 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,955 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP's holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMG. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Financial Services increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 10,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in Warner Music Group by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company's stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Ltd. CA boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 117,095 shares of the company's stock worth $3,630,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,234,802.01. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. The trade was a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432. Insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 1.4 %

WMG traded down $0.39 on Friday, reaching $27.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,758,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,940,615. The company has a market capitalization of $14.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $26.34 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.68.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.21). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is currently 82.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMG has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.88.

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.