Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Acquires 2,400,500 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 43.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,400,500 shares during the quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned about 1.53% of Warner Music Group worth $245,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

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Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of WMG stock traded down $0.18 on Wednesday, hitting $31.14. The company had a trading volume of 3,054,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,072,777. The stock's 50-day moving average is $33.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.08. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $36.64. The firm has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the company'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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,234,802.01. This represents a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMG. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup raised Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, FBN Securities started 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.76.

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.