Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,896 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,919 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $2,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 worth $391,679,000 after purchasing an additional 192,215 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 69,089 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the first quarter worth about $523,000. Finally, Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. increased its position in Warner Music Group by 8.1% during 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 during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Tigress Financial lowered their target price 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. Macquarie lowered their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total value of $3,812,077.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,725,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,790,405.88. This trade represents a 4.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ WMG opened at $33.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.47 and a 200-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 Corp. has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $38.05. The firm has a market cap of $17.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.06, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.37.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 69.23%.

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.