Quantbot Technologies LP Buys 7,608 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,945 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,608 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $1,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMG. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $218,000. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. The trade was a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,234,802.01. The trade was a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $32.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.92.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.81.

Warner Music Group 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.