Balefire LLC Grows Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Balefire LLC increased its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,632 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,396 shares during the quarter. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $2,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 246,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,633,000 after buying an additional 6,023 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,140,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,361,000 after purchasing an additional 437,077 shares during the period. Hahn Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 255,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,908,000 after buying an additional 60,882 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 953,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,560,000 after buying an additional 48,772 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on WMG shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $34.00 price target (down from $35.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, FBN Securities began coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.95.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 3.1%

WMG stock opened at $26.19 on Thursday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $36.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.43, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.52 and its 200 day moving average is $30.36. The firm has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.25.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 64.64%. Warner Music Group’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.76%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $31,430.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at $2,754,808.07. The trade was a 1.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

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.