Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) EVP Timothy Matusch Sells 1,000 Shares

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $31,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Timothy Matusch also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 14th, Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of Warner Music Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total transaction of $40,248.47.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $29.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.34 billion, a PE ratio of 30.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.06.

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

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 73.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WMG shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group cut their price target 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.76.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Financial Services grew its position in Warner Music Group by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 10,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Ltd. CA boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 117,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,630,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.