Capital World Investors Acquires 82,149 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Capital World Investors raised its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,371,100 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 82,149 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned 2.58% of Warner Music Group worth $414,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 23.9% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 424,083 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,274,000 after purchasing an additional 81,799 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 37.1% in the 3rd 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company's stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Warner Music Group stock traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $29.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,391,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,952,776. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $31.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.83. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 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%. Research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMG. FBN Securities initiated coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, March 28th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $32.00 price target (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.47.

About Warner Music Group

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.