US Bancorp DE Trims Position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

US Bancorp DE cut its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 78.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,269 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,755 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 37.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $274,016,000 after buying an additional 2,370,973 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $257,207,000 after acquiring an additional 7,923,926 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 91.5% during the 3rd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 5,264,498 shares of the company's stock worth $164,779,000 after acquiring an additional 2,514,715 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,628,263 shares of the company's stock worth $82,284,000 after purchasing an additional 49,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,247,719 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,354,000 after purchasing an additional 10,222 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. The trade was a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 64,333 shares of company stock worth $2,124,602. 72.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WMG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.81.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WMG traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,016,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,856,884. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $36.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. On average, analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

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.