Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Short Interest Update

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,660,000 shares, a drop of 14.2% from the March 31st total of 5,430,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,030,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,333 shares of company stock worth $1,072,432 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 9th. FBN Securities began coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $32.00 price objective (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.47.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of Warner Music Group stock opened at $30.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The firm has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a PE ratio of 30.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $31.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.78. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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