Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Raises Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,553,960 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $48,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% during the 4th 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 period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised 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 valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 2.2 %

WMG stock opened at $31.56 on Friday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $36.64. The company has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $33.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS 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%. As a group, 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,234,802.01. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $1,000,753.50. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 72.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMG has been the topic of several research reports. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.76.

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.