Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 953,549 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 48,772 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Warner Music Group worth $29,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 10,422 shares of the company's stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Keystone Financial Services grew its position in Warner Music Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 10,336 shares of the company's stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.
Warner Music Group Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ WMG traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $32.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,007,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,892,401. 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 Corp. has a 1-year low of $27.06 and a 1-year high of $36.64. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $32.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.81. The firm has a market cap of $16.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33.
Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued 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 2.22%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is 73.47%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WMG shares. Citigroup raised Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.81.
Get Our Latest Research Report on WMG
Warner Music Group Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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