Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Short Interest Down 16.3% in October

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,930,000 shares, a decline of 16.3% from the September 30th total of 13,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total value of $3,812,077.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,725,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $76,790,405.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757. Corporate insiders own 73.35% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMG. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 74.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 5,790.5% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter valued at $73,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Warner Music Group during the first quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of WMG stock traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $32.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,384,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,834,405. The company has a 50 day moving average of $30.20 and a 200 day moving average of $30.74. The firm has a market cap of $16.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Warner Music Group has a 1-year low of $27.06 and a 1-year high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 101.32%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.58 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. This is a positive change from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is 69.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WMG shares. Redburn Atlantic restated a "sell" rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. 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. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, July 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Warner Music Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.17.

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.