Lincoln E. Benet Sells 35,000 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total transaction of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $31.08. 1,139,213 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,805,525. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $38.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $32.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.20). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.67.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,207,000 after purchasing an additional 7,923,926 shares during the period. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP grew its position in Warner Music Group by 47.4% during the second quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,418,000 after buying an additional 2,594,994 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 91.5% in the third quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 5,264,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,779,000 after buying an additional 2,514,715 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $160,156,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,061,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,122,000 after acquiring an additional 831,114 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.