Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Sold by AKO Capital LLP

AKO Capital LLP reduced its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 37.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,323,994 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,538,131 shares during the quarter. Warner Music Group comprises 1.9% of AKO Capital LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. AKO Capital LLP owned 0.83% of Warner Music Group worth $134,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 37.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $274,016,000 after buying an additional 2,370,973 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,628,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,284,000 after purchasing an additional 49,166 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 7,659.8% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 95,833 shares of the company's stock worth $2,971,000 after purchasing an additional 94,598 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 953,549 shares of the company's stock worth $29,560,000 after purchasing an additional 48,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 355.3% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 44,337 shares of the company's stock worth $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 34,599 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

WMG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group cut their target price 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. FBN Securities initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.76.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of WMG stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $31.40. 197,495 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,959,845. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.06 and a 200 day moving average of $32.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $36.64. The firm has a market cap of $16.34 billion, a PE ratio of 32.04, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,234,802.01. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Warner Music Group 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.