FIL Ltd Purchases 13,913 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,568,446 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,913 shares during the period. FIL Ltd owned 1.08% of Warner Music Group worth $172,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company's stock valued at $347,169,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444,508 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $245,531,000 after buying an additional 2,400,500 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,088,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,140,665 shares of the company's stock worth $35,361,000 after buying an additional 437,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,881,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Warner Music Group stock traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.03. 1,502,332 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,958,632. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The business's 50-day moving average is $32.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.98. 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 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $36.64.

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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 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on WMG. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. FBN Securities began coverage on Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Warner Music Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Warner Music Group news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the firm'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 value of $1,000,753.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.