Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) CEO Max Lousada Sells 64,047 Shares of Stock

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) CEO Max Lousada sold 64,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total value of $1,809,327.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,909,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,191,171.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Max Lousada also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, September 5th, Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of Warner Music Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total value of $3,812,077.08.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $28.17 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.37. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1-year low of $27.06 and a 1-year high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 101.32%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. This is a boost from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 72.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WMG. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, July 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.19.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMG. Capital World Investors raised its position in Warner Music Group by 41.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,201,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,903,000 after buying an additional 3,881,684 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,861,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,679,000 after acquiring an additional 192,215 shares in the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594,994 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $160,156,000. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,198,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,232 shares in the last quarter. 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.