Max Lousada Sells 428,834 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $12,007,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,289,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,113,588. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total value of $3,812,077.08.
• On Tuesday, September 3rd, Max Lousada sold 64,047 shares of Warner Music Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $1,809,327.75.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

WMG opened at $28.24 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.37. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $38.05. The stock has a market cap of $14.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut 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 note on Thursday, August 8th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.19.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 41.7% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 1.6% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 47.4% in the second quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,418,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594,994 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the second quarter worth about $160,156,000. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,198,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,232 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Warner Music Group

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.