Loop Capital Has Lowered Expectations for Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Price

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its target price cut by Loop Capital from $38.00 to $35.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the stock.

WMG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday. Tigress Financial dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.79.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ WMG opened at $32.05 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.61, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.68. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 86.75%.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of Warner Music Group 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 in the company, valued at $64,113,588. The trade was a 15.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757. Corporate insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $759,000. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $606,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,207,000 after buying an additional 7,923,926 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $15,766,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,956,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.