Bank of America Corp DE Sells 226,212 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 44.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 285,430 shares of the company's stock after selling 226,212 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.06% of Warner Music Group worth $8,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company's stock worth $274,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,370,973 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 84.8% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 31,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 14,507 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company's stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the company's stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth about $463,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WMG shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $35.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Warner Music Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $34.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $31,430.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at $2,754,808.07. This trade represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Warner Music Group stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,818,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,923,060. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $25.89 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The company has a market capitalization of $13.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The firm's fifty day moving average is $29.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.27. 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 (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.21). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.76%.

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.