Sei Investments Co. Sells 162,946 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Sei Investments Co. cut its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 38.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 261,872 shares of the company’s stock after selling 162,946 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $8,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 5,790.5% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the first quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 66.4% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of WMG opened at $31.20 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.37. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $27.06 and a 12-month high of $38.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.99. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Equities research analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In other news, CEO Max Lousada sold 64,047 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction 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 approximately $82,191,171.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Redburn Atlantic restated a “sell” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of 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. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.92.

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.