Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,169,000 after buying an additional 2,444,508 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400,500 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 148.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 344,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,895 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,088,000. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 5,895,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,746,000 after purchasing an additional 839,754 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total value of $31,430.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. This trade represents a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,333 shares of company stock worth $1,072,432 over the last 90 days. 72.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.76.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 1.9 %

WMG stock opened at $29.12 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. 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.

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

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.47%.

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.