Blueshift Asset Management LLC Invests $321,000 in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370,973 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,628,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,284,000 after acquiring an additional 49,166 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 7,659.8% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 95,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,971,000 after acquiring an additional 94,598 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 953,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,560,000 after purchasing an additional 48,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 355.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 44,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 34,599 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG stock opened at $32.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $16.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.84. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. On average, analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total transaction of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,234,802.01. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WMG shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.81.

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.