Northern Trust Corp Buys 95,035 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 713,384 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 95,035 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.14% of Warner Music Group worth $22,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company's stock worth $347,169,000 after buying an additional 2,444,508 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock worth $245,531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400,500 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position 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 worth $10,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,895 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,088,000. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 839,754 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMG. Wolfe Research raised shares of Warner Music Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. FBN Securities assumed coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $35.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.50.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG traded up $0.17 on Friday, hitting $27.69. The company had a trading volume of 982,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,927,177. The stock has a market cap of $14.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.55. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1-year low of $26.34 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.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is 82.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Warner Music Group news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 directly owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total value of $31,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

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.