Bank of Montreal Can Sells 341,959 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 58.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 246,082 shares of the company’s stock after selling 341,959 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $7,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,207,000 after purchasing an additional 7,923,926 shares during the period. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,594,994 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP bought a new stake in Warner Music Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $160,156,000. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 19.6% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,061,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,122,000 after acquiring an additional 831,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $84,281,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Warner Music Group stock opened at $32.17 on Tuesday. 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 Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $38.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.97 and a 200 day moving average of $30.62. The company has a market capitalization of $16.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WMG shares. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Tigress Financial cut their target price on 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.67.

Insider Activity

In other Warner Music Group news, 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 transaction of $12,007,352.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,289,771 shares in the company, valued at $64,113,588. This represents a 15.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

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.