Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Stake Lessened by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 51.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,744 shares of the company's stock after selling 97,973 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $2,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 18,142 shares of the company's stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,756 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth about $5,034,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company's stock worth $347,169,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,088,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:WMG traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.93. 610,905 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,835,996. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.43, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $28.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.12. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $25.56 and a 1 year high of $36.64. The company has a market cap of $15.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.24.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.21). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 64.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is 82.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMG has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $34.00 price objective (down previously from $35.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 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 "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn 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, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Warner Music Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.72.

Warner Music Group 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.