Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Acquired by D1 Capital Partners L.P.

D1 Capital Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 91.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,264,498 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,514,715 shares during the period. Warner Music Group comprises about 3.2% of D1 Capital Partners L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. D1 Capital Partners L.P. owned 1.02% of Warner Music Group worth $164,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,207,000 after purchasing an additional 7,923,926 shares during the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP raised its position in Warner Music Group by 47.4% during the second quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594,994 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the second quarter valued at $160,156,000. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,061,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,122,000 after acquiring an additional 831,114 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,163,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,711,000 after acquiring an additional 163,247 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 2,289,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,113,588. This represents a 15.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757 over the last three months. Insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

WMG stock opened at $32.10 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.64. The firm has a market cap of $16.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.37. 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 Corp. has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.75%.

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.