Morningstar Investment Services LLC Sells 21,716 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Morningstar Investment Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 46.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,671 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,716 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC's holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 586 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 101.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the period. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 71.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 1,266 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $31.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,558,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,765,612. The company's 50-day moving average price is $27.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.08. The company has a market capitalization of $16.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.43. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $25.56 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 64.64% and a net margin of 7.14%. Warner Music Group's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is 82.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMG has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.72.

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.