Brokerages Set Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Target Price at $35.76

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seventeen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.76.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMG. Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 87,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,754,808.07. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 68,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432 in the last 90 days. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 101.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 1.9 %

Warner Music Group stock traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $29.12. 786,270 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,957,385. 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 firm has a market cap of $15.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.35 and a 200 day moving average of $31.90. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $27.06 and a 12-month high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. Research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

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.