Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $16.90 Million Stock Position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 545,057 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,865 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Warner Music Group worth $16,896,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,371,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $414,504,000 after buying an additional 82,149 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company's stock valued at $347,169,000 after buying an additional 2,444,508 shares during the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 10,370,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $321,479,000 after buying an additional 1,500,000 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $245,531,000 after buying an additional 2,400,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its position in 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 worth $186,000,000 after purchasing an additional 5,917,879 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

WMG traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 982,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,927,319. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $26.34 and a 52 week high of $36.64. The company's 50-day moving average is $30.07 and its 200-day moving average is $31.52. 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 $14.41 billion, a PE ratio of 28.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.76%.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $1,000,753.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 72.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wolfe Research raised Warner Music Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup raised Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.