Legal & General Group Plc Sells 4,385 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 274,840 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,385 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.05% of Warner Music Group worth $8,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Warner Music Group by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of Warner Music Group stock opened at $29.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $36.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. Analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total value of $31,430.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432 over the last ninety days. 72.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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