Natixis Buys Shares of 258,497 Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Natixis bought a new stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 258,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,013,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 424,083 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,274,000 after buying an additional 81,799 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Warner Music Group by 37.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company's stock worth $274,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370,973 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,223,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. FBN Securities assumed coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $32.00 target price (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.47.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In related 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,754,808.07. This trade represents a 1.13 % 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 valued at $1,072,432. 72.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $29.83. 1,443,383 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,956,349. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $31.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.81. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $36.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a PE ratio of 30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Warner Music Group Company 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.