Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Position Lowered by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. lessened its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 225,612 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,178 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.'s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $6,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMG. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company's stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of WMG stock traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $30.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,184,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,979,235. The company has a market capitalization of $15.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. 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 $31.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.81. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. As a group, sell-side 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMG. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. FBN Securities began coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, March 28th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup upgraded Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $32.00 target price (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In related news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total value of $31,430.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. This trade represents a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % 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 90 days. Insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

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.