Morgan Stanley Reiterates Equal Weight Rating for Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG)

Morgan Stanley reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has a $32.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $37.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upgraded Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group cut 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.47.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $27.72 on Monday. Warner Music Group has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $36.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.88. 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 firm has a market cap of $14.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,234,802.01. This represents a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,333 shares of company stock worth $1,072,432. 72.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 101.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

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.