Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 318,749 shares of the company's stock after selling 142,245 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of Warner Music Group worth $9,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 10,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 20,743 shares of the company's stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,508 shares of the company's stock worth $2,428,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 11,054 shares of the company's stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Tigress Financial reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total transaction of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. This represents a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 73.35% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:WMG traded up $0.04 on Tuesday, hitting $31.00. The stock had a trading volume of 901,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,785,002. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $38.05. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $32.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.78. The stock has a market cap of $16.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The business's revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.75%.

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.