Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Sells 1,618 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lessened its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,109 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,618 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $536,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 41.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,201,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,903,000 after buying an additional 3,881,684 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,861,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,679,000 after purchasing an additional 192,215 shares during the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,418,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594,994 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP bought a new position in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $160,156,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 19.6% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,061,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,122,000 after buying an additional 831,114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total transaction of $3,812,077.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,725,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,790,405.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757 in the last ninety days. 73.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $32.41 on Friday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $38.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.85.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 101.32% and a net margin of 8.56%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. On average, analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.05 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This is a boost from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 72.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Macquarie cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on 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. Redburn Atlantic restated a “sell” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial reduced their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.17.

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.