Jackson Square Partners LLC Sells 127,309 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Jackson Square Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 634,446 shares of the company’s stock after selling 127,309 shares during the period. Warner Music Group accounts for approximately 2.1% of Jackson Square Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Jackson Square Partners LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Warner Music Group worth $19,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMG. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 7.0% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 50,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,584,000 after buying an additional 3,317 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 657.9% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 10,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 8,717 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.7% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 3,314 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 904,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,320,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 11,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

NASDAQ WMG opened at $32.33 on Tuesday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $36.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on WMG shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of 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. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.81.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,234,802.01. This represents a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.