Insider Selling: Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Director Sells 28,230 Shares of Stock

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of WMG stock traded down $0.74 on Tuesday, reaching $34.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 422,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,902,187. The company has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.58, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.35. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $27.06 and a 12-month high of $36.64. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $31.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WMG shares. 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. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.81.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors raised its position in Warner Music Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,371,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $414,504,000 after purchasing an additional 82,149 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company's stock worth $347,169,000 after buying an additional 2,444,508 shares during the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 10,370,280 shares of the company's stock worth $321,479,000 after buying an additional 1,500,000 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% during the third 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. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock worth $245,531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400,500 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.