Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Price

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its target price cut by Barclays from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Macquarie reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.79.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.6 %

Warner Music Group stock opened at $32.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.82 and a 200-day moving average of $30.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Warner Music Group has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $12,007,352.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,289,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,113,588. This trade represents a 15.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757 over the last ninety days. 73.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Warner Music Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,861,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,679,000 after purchasing an additional 192,215 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 6.3% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 13,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the first quarter valued at $523,000. Aristides Capital LLC acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the first quarter valued at $229,000. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Warner Music Group during the first quarter valued at $759,000. 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.