Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 38.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 261,872 shares of the company's stock after selling 162,946 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.05% of Warner Music Group worth $8,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMG. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the second quarter worth approximately $1,265,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth $999,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 21.2% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 101,521 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 17,759 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,956,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $12,007,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,289,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,113,588. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757. 73.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WMG. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Tigress Financial dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Redburn Atlantic restated a "sell" rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective 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. Finally, Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.92.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG traded up $0.10 on Monday, hitting $31.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,880,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,883,865. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.21 and a 200-day moving average of $30.99. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $27.06 and a 12-month high of $38.05. The company has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.37.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 101.32% and a net margin of 8.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.58 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This is a boost from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.00%.

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.