Capital International Sarl Acquires 11,077 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Capital International Sarl increased its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,724 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,077 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl's holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $5,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Warner Music Group by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company's stock worth $347,169,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444,508 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock worth $245,531,000 after buying an additional 2,400,500 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 148.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 344,312 shares of the company's stock worth $10,674,000 after buying an additional 1,058,895 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,088,000. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 5,895,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $182,746,000 after acquiring an additional 839,754 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMG has been the subject of several research reports. Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $32.00 price objective (down from $37.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.47.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of WMG stock traded down $1.40 on Monday, reaching $27.72. 1,496,255 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,958,287. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.21 and a 200-day moving average of $31.88. The company has a market cap of $14.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. Analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.47%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $31,430.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at $2,754,808.07. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,333 shares of company stock worth $1,072,432 over the last three months. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.