Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 319,876 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,438 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of Warner Music Group worth $9,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 379.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth $218,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $2,754,808.07. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,333 shares of company stock valued at $1,072,432 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.76.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG opened at $29.12 on Friday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $36.64. 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 company has a market cap of $15.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $32.35 and a 200-day moving average of $31.90.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 73.47%.

Warner Music Group 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.