SG Americas Securities LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 91.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,128 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,676 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Independent Franchise Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $160,156,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 41.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,201,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,903,000 after acquiring an additional 3,881,684 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the second quarter valued at $84,281,000. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP increased its position in 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. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,061,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,122,000 after purchasing an additional 831,114 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $31.73 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.81. 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 stock has a market cap of $16.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.38. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 72.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Warner Music Group 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 approximately $64,113,588. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic reiterated 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. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, July 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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 report on Tuesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Thursday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.17.

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.