Capital World Investors Boosts Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Capital World Investors grew its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,371,100 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 82,149 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned approximately 2.58% of Warner Music Group worth $414,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Covalis Capital LLP increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 170.6% in the fourth quarter. Covalis Capital LLP now owns 174,320 shares of the company's stock worth $5,404,000 after purchasing an additional 109,898 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 744,349 shares of the company's stock worth $23,074,000 after buying an additional 14,149 shares during the period. Capital International Ltd. CA lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 117,095 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,630,000 after buying an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 163,724 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,075,000 after buying an additional 11,077 shares during the period. Finally, Broyhill Asset Management bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth about $2,601,000. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

WMG stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.47. The company had a trading volume of 346,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,949,128. The company has a market cap of $15.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $36.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.82.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WMG shares. Citigroup upgraded Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. FBN Securities started coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, March 28th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Warner Music Group news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total transaction of $40,248.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,234,802.01. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,333 shares of company stock worth $1,072,432. 72.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Warner Music Group

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.