Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Sold by Symmetry Investments LP

Symmetry Investments LP decreased its position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 33.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 175,421 shares of the company’s stock after selling 88,808 shares during the quarter. Symmetry Investments LP’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $5,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 5,790.5% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the first quarter worth $45,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the first quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Warner Music Group by 66.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of WMG opened at $30.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26. The firm has a market cap of $15.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s fifty day moving average is $29.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.15. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $38.05.

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

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. 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 2.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 72.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $12,007,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,289,771 shares in the company, valued at $64,113,588. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on WMG shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, July 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.69.

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.