Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 23,890 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lessened its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,193,577 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,890 shares during the period. Warner Music Group comprises about 1.2% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $254,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370,973 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,628,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,284,000 after buying an additional 49,166 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 7,659.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 95,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,971,000 after buying an additional 94,598 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 953,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,560,000 after buying an additional 48,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 355.3% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 44,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 34,599 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 related news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,234,802.01. This represents a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.76.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ WMG opened at $31.56 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $36.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. Analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.28%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

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.