Natixis Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 50,256 shares of the company’s stock after selling 356 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $1,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter worth $304,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group 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 value of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the sale, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $32.33 on Tuesday. 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 Corp. has a 52-week low of $27.06 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The stock has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $32.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.92.

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

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.81.

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.