Analysts Set Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Price Target at $36.17

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.17.

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMG. Tigress Financial dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Macquarie dropped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 report on Thursday, August 8th.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $32.92 on Friday. Warner Music Group has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $38.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26. The company has a market cap of $17.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.37.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 64,047 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total value of $1,809,327.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,909,422 shares in the company, valued at $82,191,171.50. This trade represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,207,000 after purchasing an additional 7,923,926 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the second quarter worth about $160,156,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 41.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,201,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,903,000 after acquiring an additional 3,881,684 shares in the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $84,281,000. Finally, Darlington Partners Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594,994 shares in the last quarter. 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.