Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 953,549 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 48,772 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.18% of Warner Music Group worth $29,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,207,000 after buying an additional 7,923,926 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 91.5% in the 3rd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 5,264,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,779,000 after acquiring an additional 2,514,715 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370,973 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,198.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 507,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,886,000 after acquiring an additional 485,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,140,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,361,000 after purchasing an additional 437,077 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG opened at $33.10 on Tuesday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $27.06 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on WMG shares. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group currently has an average 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 stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. This represents a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,333 shares of company stock valued at $2,124,602 over the last 90 days. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.