Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Price Target Raised to $34.00

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its price target boosted by Citigroup from $31.00 to $34.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on WMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Tigress Financial cut 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 report on Thursday, September 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.67.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 1.3 %

WMG stock opened at $32.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.62. Warner Music Group has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $38.05. The company has a market capitalization of $16.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.37.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Warner Music Group news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 15.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757. Insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 5,790.5% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $73,000. 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.