Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Given New $30.00 Price Target at Macquarie

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its price target reduced by Macquarie from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Tigress Financial decreased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America restated 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. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, July 12th. They set an outperform rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $36.17.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

WMG opened at $31.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.91. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $27.06 and a 12-month high of $38.05. The firm has a market cap of $16.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.94, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 101.32% and a net margin of 8.56%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 69.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $12,007,352.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,289,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,113,588. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757. Insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMG. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter worth $73,000. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the third quarter worth about $15,766,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $414,000. Truist Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 35,439.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 50,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after acquiring an additional 50,679 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.