FIL Ltd Increases Position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,568,446 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,913 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd owned 1.08% of Warner Music Group worth $172,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position 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 worth $347,169,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444,508 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $245,531,000 after buying an additional 2,400,500 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,088,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,140,665 shares of the company's stock worth $35,361,000 after acquiring an additional 437,077 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,881,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $31,430.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 30,333 shares of company stock worth $1,072,432. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of WMG stock traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $29.38. 133,076 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,956,538. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $36.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The stock has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a PE ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $32.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.98.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. Research analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on WMG shares. FBN Securities initiated coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, March 28th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective 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. UBS Group cut their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company 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, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.76.

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.