Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

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

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake 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.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of Warner Music Group stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.49. 1,365,186 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,780,360. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.13. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 64.64% and a net margin of 7.14%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is 82.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WMG. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $35.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target 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, July 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.68.

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.