Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Holdings Decreased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 24.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,560 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,106 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.'s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $1,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in Warner Music Group by 122.6% during 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 in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Warner Music Group by 101.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on WMG shares. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. FBN Securities initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $34.05.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $29.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $36.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.43, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 64.64%. Warner Music Group's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is currently 82.76%.

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.

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