Insider Selling: Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Director Sells 35,000 Shares of Stock

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 242,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,503,465.60. The trade was a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

WMG opened at $31.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $16.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $32.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.76. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $27.06 and a 52-week high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.20). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.67.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 23.9% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 424,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,274,000 after purchasing an additional 81,799 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in Warner Music Group by 239.3% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 45,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,434,000 after buying an additional 32,300 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,628,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,284,000 after acquiring an additional 49,166 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,352,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,373,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% 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.