Vanguard Group Inc. Has $404.94 Million Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,062,688 shares of the company's stock after selling 707,102 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 2.52% of Warner Music Group worth $404,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $274,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,370,973 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,198.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 507,533 shares of the company's stock worth $15,886,000 after buying an additional 485,447 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,140,665 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,361,000 after acquiring an additional 437,077 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth $10,881,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd increased its position in Warner Music Group by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 632,454 shares of the company's stock worth $19,606,000 after acquiring an additional 128,735 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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. FBN Securities assumed coverage on Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $1,000,753.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $31,430.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at $2,754,808.07. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,333 shares of company stock worth $1,072,432 over the last three months. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG traded down $1.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.48. 3,950,729 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,967,218. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $36.64. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $33.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $15.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.08, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Warner Music Group Company 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.