Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Bought by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 246,929 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 847 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $7,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,247,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,354,000 after buying an additional 10,222 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,352,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $82,284,000 after purchasing an additional 49,166 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 239.3% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 45,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 32,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Warner Music Group by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 424,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,274,000 after purchasing an additional 81,799 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $1,000,753.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,958.80. The trade was a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total value of $31,430.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,754,808.07. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,333 shares of company stock worth $1,072,432. Corporate insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMG has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.76.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Warner Music Group stock opened at $29.03 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a PE ratio of 29.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.98. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

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.