Perpetual Ltd Makes New Investment in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 503,719 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,766,000. Perpetual Ltd owned approximately 0.10% of Warner Music Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 5,790.5% in the second 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 period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $86,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total value of $3,812,077.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,725,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at $76,790,405.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757. Company insiders own 73.35% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Warner Music Group stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $31.00. 957,459 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,878,659. The firm has a market cap of $16.06 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 0.96 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. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.91. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $38.05.

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

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This is a boost from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is presently 72.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WMG shares. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, July 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Warner Music Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.33.

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.