Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 39.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,117 shares of the company's stock after selling 41,855 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD's holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $1,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors increased its position in Warner Music Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,371,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $414,504,000 after acquiring an additional 82,149 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 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 worth $245,531,000 after buying an additional 2,400,500 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 5,895,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $182,746,000 after buying an additional 839,754 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,644,673 shares of the company's stock worth $82,009,000 after acquiring an additional 16,410 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group
In related news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the business'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 transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. The trade was a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432. Company insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. FBN Securities started coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.47.
Read Our Latest Report on WMG
Warner Music Group Stock Performance
Shares of Warner Music Group stock opened at $30.09 on Thursday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $30.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.74. 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 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $36.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32.
Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.
Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.
About Warner Music Group
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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