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

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of Warner Music Group 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of WMG stock opened at $35.26 on Friday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $27.06 and a 52-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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.18. The company has a market capitalization of $18.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.35.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 73.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.81.

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.