Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,705 shares of the company’s stock after selling 306 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 458 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 Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total transaction of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,503,465.60. This represents a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 64,333 shares of company stock valued at $2,124,602. Company 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. Citigroup upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.81.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $32.70 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.60 and a 200-day moving average of $31.80. The firm has a market cap of $17.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $36.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67.

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

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

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.