Loop Capital Cuts Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Price Target to $35.00

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its price target lowered by Loop Capital from $38.00 to $35.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on 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. 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. Tigress Financial dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. 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 research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.79.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $32.10 on Monday. Warner Music Group has a 52-week low of $27.06 and a 52-week high of $38.05. The stock has a market cap of $16.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.93 and its 200 day moving average is $30.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total transaction of $3,812,077.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,725,964 shares in the company, valued at $76,790,405.88. This trade represents a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757. Company insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMG. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 74.5% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 5,790.5% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% in 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 last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $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.