Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 7,923,926 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 2,699.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,217,467 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,923,926 shares during the period. Warner Music Group makes up approximately 1.2% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned 1.59% of Warner Music Group worth $257,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,812 shares of the company's stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Capital City Trust Co. FL lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 10,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 2.8% during the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 17,548 shares of the company's stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.2% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 20,743 shares of the company's stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Macquarie dropped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.17.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $33.34. 1,103,980 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,790,807. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $38.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $17.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.37.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $12,007,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,289,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,113,588. This trade represents a 15.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 73.35% 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.