Covalis Capital LLP Has $5.40 Million Stock Position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Covalis Capital LLP boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 170.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 174,320 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 109,898 shares during the quarter. Covalis Capital LLP's holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $5,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company's stock valued at $347,169,000 after buying an additional 2,444,508 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock worth $245,531,000 after buying an additional 2,400,500 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 148.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 344,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,895 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,088,000. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 5,895,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $182,746,000 after acquiring an additional 839,754 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,234,802.01. The trade was a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432 in the last quarter. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG traded up $0.67 during trading on Thursday, hitting $29.28. 237,436 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,993,001. The stock has a market cap of $15.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.83.

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

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WMG. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. 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 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $32.00 price objective (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.47.

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.