Blair William & Co. IL Lowers Stock Position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 91.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,950 shares of the company's stock after selling 81,145 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company's stock worth $274,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370,973 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $82,284,000 after acquiring an additional 49,166 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 7,659.8% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 95,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,971,000 after acquiring an additional 94,598 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 953,549 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,560,000 after acquiring an additional 48,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 84.8% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 31,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $980,000 after acquiring an additional 14,507 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Warner Music Group news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the business'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 owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. The trade was a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,234,802.01. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

WMG traded down $0.75 on Thursday, reaching $28.99. 127,853 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,105,910. The stock has a market cap of $15.09 billion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $36.64. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $32.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.01. 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 (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMG. Citigroup upgraded Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, FBN Securities started coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, March 28th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price objective 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group currently 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.