Blueshift Asset Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 10,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth about $218,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $870,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,881,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 7,659.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 95,833 shares of the company's stock worth $2,971,000 after acquiring an additional 94,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $29,560,000 after purchasing an additional 48,772 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In related news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $2,419,958.80. The trade was a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,649 shares in the company, valued at $3,234,802.01. This represents a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMG. Citigroup upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI cut 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 research report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.81.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG stock traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $32.85. 2,833,914 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,918,859. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.96. The company has a market cap of $17.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $27.06 and a 12-month high of $36.64. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.47%.

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.