Legal & General Group Plc Sells 4,385 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 274,840 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,385 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $8,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 13.1% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $29.12 on Friday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $27.06 and a 12-month high of $36.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.35 and a 200 day moving average of $31.90.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 73.47%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,234,802.01. This represents a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. The trade was a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432 over the last quarter. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on WMG shares. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target 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, Citigroup upgraded Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.76.

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.