Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Sold by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 91.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,128 shares of the company's stock after selling 66,676 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Independent Franchise Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $160,156,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in Warner Music Group by 41.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,201,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $435,903,000 after purchasing an additional 3,881,684 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $84,281,000. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company's stock worth $247,418,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594,994 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,061,093 shares of the company's stock worth $155,122,000 after purchasing an additional 831,114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMG. Redburn Atlantic reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on 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. Finally, Macquarie dropped their target price on 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.17.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 64,047 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total value of $1,809,327.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,909,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,191,171.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 73.35% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WMG stock traded up $0.22 on Thursday, reaching $31.95. 2,152,562 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,841,664. The company has a market capitalization of $16.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.38. The business's 50 day moving average price is $30.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. As a group, sell-side 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This is an increase from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is currently 69.23%.

About Warner Music Group

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.