Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Holdings Lessened by Cooke & Bieler LP

Cooke & Bieler LP decreased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,891,179 shares of the company’s stock after selling 126,208 shares during the period. Warner Music Group makes up 1.8% of Cooke & Bieler LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Cooke & Bieler LP owned about 1.14% of Warner Music Group worth $182,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. Capital City Trust Co. FL raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 10,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Financial Services increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 10,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Warner Music Group stock opened at $34.07 on Tuesday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $36.64. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.63. 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 company has a market capitalization of $17.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of 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, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total transaction of $1,083,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at $7,503,465.60. The trade was a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. The trade was a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 64,333 shares of company stock valued at $2,124,602. Insiders own 72.21% 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.