Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $5.03 Million in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 162,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,034,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMG has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. FBN Securities initiated coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,234,802.01. The trade was a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

WMG stock opened at $31.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.09 and a 200-day moving average of $32.08. The company has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. 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 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 return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued 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 yield of 2.30%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.47%.

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.