Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Raises Stock Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,354,793 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,002 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.26% of Warner Music Group worth $41,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 87.1% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,713,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263,690 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the first quarter valued at about $759,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth about $43,628,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 289.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 92,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,066,000 after purchasing an additional 69,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 521,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,655,000 after buying an additional 61,673 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on WMG. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, July 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Finally, Redburn Atlantic restated a “sell” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.69.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.4 %

WMG opened at $30.50 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.37. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 101.32% and a net margin of 8.56%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 72.00%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total value of $3,812,077.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,725,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,790,405.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.