Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Holdings Cut by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 545,057 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,865 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Warner Music Group worth $16,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WMG. Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 7,206.3% during the 4th quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 6,000,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000,000 after acquiring an additional 5,917,879 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,169,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444,508 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400,500 shares in the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 10,370,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 148.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 344,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In other news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. The trade was a 29.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,649 shares in the company, valued at $3,234,802.01. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,333 shares of company stock worth $1,072,432. Company insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

NASDAQ WMG opened at $27.48 on Wednesday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $26.34 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $30.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $14.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. Warner Music Group’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. On average, 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.50.

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.