Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Director Valentin Blavatnik Sells 28,230 Shares of Stock

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Warner Music Group stock opened at $35.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.16. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $27.06 and a 12-month high of $36.64. 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 (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMG. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 1,041.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 363,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,373,000 after acquiring an additional 331,511 shares during the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.8% in the third quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 1,090,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,124,000 after buying an additional 39,925 shares during the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 67.6% in the third quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 49,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,565,000 after buying an additional 20,160 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 16,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on WMG shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.81.

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.