JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Price Target to $40.00

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its target price trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $41.00 to $40.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price 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. Tigress Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Macquarie reduced their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of WMG opened at $31.85 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.62. Warner Music Group has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $38.05. The company has a market capitalization of $16.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total transaction of $3,812,077.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,725,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,790,405.88. This trade represents a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 74.5% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $73,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.