Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 27.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,199,012 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,444,508 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 2.16% of Warner Music Group worth $347,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the company's stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Financial Services grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in Warner Music Group by 14.0% during the 4th 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. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 77,058 shares of the company's stock worth $2,389,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $1,000,753.50. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,234,802.01. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Citigroup upgraded Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.76.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

WMG stock traded down $1.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $29.48. The stock had a trading volume of 3,950,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,967,218. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.06. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $27.06 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $15.34 billion, a PE ratio of 30.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.47%.

Warner Music Group 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.