Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Bought by Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton

Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,705 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 37.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,016,000 after buying an additional 2,370,973 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,628,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,284,000 after acquiring an additional 49,166 shares during the last quarter. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $606,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 7,923,926 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth approximately $15,766,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the firm’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 approximately $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 73.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Loop Capital cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.31.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.1 %

WMG stock opened at $29.60 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.76. The company has a market capitalization of $15.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $38.05. 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 (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.20). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 69.29% and a net margin of 6.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. Warner Music Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.75%.

Warner Music Group 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.