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

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 is available through the SEC website.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of WMG stock traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.26. 1,946,632 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,946,701. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $36.64. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The firm has a market cap of $18.35 billion, a PE ratio of 35.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.35.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.81.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other 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.