Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Trims Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,193,577 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,890 shares during the quarter. Warner Music Group makes up approximately 1.2% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 1.58% of Warner Music Group worth $254,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company's stock valued at $347,169,000 after buying an additional 2,444,508 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,400,500 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,628,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,284,000 after purchasing an additional 49,166 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 0.5% during the third 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 period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 62.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 437,077 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Warner Music Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:WMG traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $31.14. The company had a trading volume of 3,054,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,972,108. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $33.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.08. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $27.06 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The company has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a PE ratio of 31.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. As a group, research analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insider Activity

In other Warner Music Group news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares in the company, valued at $3,234,802.01. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on WMG shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price 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. Citigroup upgraded Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.76.

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.