Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Given Buy Rating at Guggenheim

Guggenheim reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $44.00 target price on the stock.

WMG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Macquarie decreased their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Warner Music Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of WMG stock opened at $31.85 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.62. The company has a market cap of $16.50 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37. Warner Music Group has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $38.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 86.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total transaction of $3,812,077.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,725,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,790,405.88. This represents a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757 over the last three months. Company insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 5,790.5% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.