D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Reduces Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. cut its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 92.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,621 shares of the company's stock after selling 75,918 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 35,639 shares of the company's stock worth $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 2,541 shares in the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 10,370,280 shares of the company's stock worth $321,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500,000 shares in the last quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. increased its position in Warner Music Group by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 896,445 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,790,000 after buying an additional 205,529 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 93.2% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 20,631 shares of the company's stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 9,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 140,879 shares of the company's stock worth $4,367,000 after acquiring an additional 14,396 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WMG shares. FBN Securities initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Warner Music Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays cut 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, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.06.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ WMG traded up $0.20 on Friday, reaching $26.38. 1,451,909 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,921,593. 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 one year low of $25.87 and a one year high of $36.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.75 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $28.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.15.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. Warner Music Group's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.76%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In related news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,754,808.07. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

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.