Pullen Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Pullen Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,239 shares of the company’s stock after selling 495 shares during the quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $1,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 7,659.8% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 95,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,971,000 after acquiring an additional 94,598 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 953,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,560,000 after acquiring an additional 48,772 shares during the last quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 896,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,790,000 after buying an additional 205,529 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,531,000 after buying an additional 2,400,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 744,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,074,000 after buying an additional 14,149 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of WMG opened at $26.34 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.67. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $25.56 and a twelve month high of $36.64. The stock has a market cap of $13.73 billion, a PE ratio of 26.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.21). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $34.00 price target (down from $35.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Warner Music Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, FBN Securities assumed coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, March 28th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.95.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total value of $31,430.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

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.