Insider Selling: Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) EVP Sells 1,000 Shares of Stock

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total value of $31,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,754,808.07. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Timothy Matusch also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 14th, Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of Warner Music Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Warner Music Group stock traded down $1.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $29.48. 3,946,968 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,970,666. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.34 billion, a PE ratio of 30.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.18 dividend. 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 2.44%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 73.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. FBN Securities began coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.76.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMG. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.