Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Acquired by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 744,349 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,149 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.14% of Warner Music Group worth $23,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. Keystone Financial Services boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 10,336 shares of the company's stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in Warner Music Group by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company's stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Ltd. CA raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 117,095 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,630,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total transaction of $40,248.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,234,802.01. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,333 shares of company stock worth $1,072,432. 72.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Warner Music Group stock opened at $30.60 on Wednesday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's fifty day moving average is $31.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. Analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $32.00 price target (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. FBN Securities initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.47.

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.

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