Darlington Partners Capital Management LP Purchases 1,500,000 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Darlington Partners Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,370,280 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,500,000 shares during the period. Warner Music Group makes up about 12.0% of Darlington Partners Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP owned approximately 2.00% of Warner Music Group worth $321,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of 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. boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company's stock worth $347,169,000 after acquiring an additional 2,444,508 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 43.5% during 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. Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 7,206.3% in the fourth quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 6,000,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,000,000 after purchasing an additional 5,917,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 5,895,025 shares of the company's stock worth $182,746,000 after buying an additional 839,754 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of WMG traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $27.48. The stock had a trading volume of 2,061,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,941,101. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $26.34 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The business's fifty day moving average is $30.70 and its 200 day moving average is $31.68. The firm has a market cap of $14.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. This trade represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432 over the last 90 days. 72.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WMG shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $34.50.

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.