Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Given “Buy” Rating at Guggenheim

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by Guggenheim in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $44.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 37.54% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Macquarie lowered their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.00.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG traded up $0.81 on Friday, hitting $31.99. 742,900 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,812,111. The company has a market cap of $16.57 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.71. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $38.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $12,007,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,289,771 shares in the company, valued at $64,113,588. This trade represents a 15.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757. Corporate insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 239.3% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 45,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 32,300 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Warner Music Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,628,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,284,000 after purchasing an additional 49,166 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth about $2,352,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,373,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth approximately $304,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Warner Music Group

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.