Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 16,410 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,644,673 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,410 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.51% of Warner Music Group worth $82,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 acquiring an additional 2,444,508 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $245,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400,500 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Warner Music Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,247,719 shares of the company's stock worth $70,354,000 after purchasing an additional 10,222 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 62.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 953,549 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,560,000 after buying an additional 48,772 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Warner Music Group Price Performance

NASDAQ WMG traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $28.96. 91,466 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,951,628. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.95. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year 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. The company has a market cap of $15.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. On average, analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WMG. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. FBN Securities started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, March 28th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.76.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In related 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of Warner Music Group 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

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.