Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Buys 7,923,926 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 2,699.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,923,926 shares during the period. Warner Music Group makes up 1.2% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 1.59% of Warner Music Group worth $257,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,861,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,679,000 after purchasing an additional 192,215 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 289.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 92,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,066,000 after acquiring an additional 69,089 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 6.3% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 13,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the first quarter worth about $523,000. Finally, Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 8.1% in the first quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. now owns 23,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMG. Tigress Financial cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.17.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total value of $3,812,077.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,725,964 shares in the company, valued at $76,790,405.88. This trade represents a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ WMG opened at $33.21 on Monday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $38.05. The stock has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.23%.

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.