Macquarie Reiterates “Neutral” Rating for Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG)

Macquarie restated their neutral rating on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Macquarie currently has a $30.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.79.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

WMG stock opened at $32.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. Warner Music Group has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $38.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.61.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.75%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In other news, CEO Max Lousada sold 64,047 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total value of $1,809,327.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,909,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,191,171.50. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Warner Music Group by 74.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Warner Music Group by 2.2% in the second quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL grew its position in Warner Music Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 10,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its position in Warner Music Group by 2.8% in the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 17,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Warner Music Group by 3.2% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 20,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.