Guggenheim Cuts Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Price Target to $40.00

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Guggenheim from $44.00 to $40.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

WMG has been the subject of several other reports. Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Barclays lowered their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial reduced their price objective on Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.40.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 5.6 %

NASDAQ:WMG traded down $1.73 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.30. 4,401,054 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,084,631. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $38.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. The firm's 50 day moving average is $31.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.79.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its 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). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.75%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 73.35% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth $30,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth about $73,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

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.