Baird Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 25.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,388 shares of the company’s stock after selling 36,513 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $1,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WBD. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 121.1% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 46,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 25,529 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 24,672,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063,535 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 1st quarter valued at about $6,592,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 227,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after acquiring an additional 37,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBD opened at $12.35 on Tuesday. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.78 and a fifty-two week high of $13.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $30.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.59.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.79. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 2.14% and a net margin of 2.00%.The business had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($4.07) EPS. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WBD shares. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Argus raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, Director Anton J. Levy acquired 250,000 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.90 per share, with a total value of $2,725,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 874,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,526,600. The trade was a 40.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc operates as a media and entertainment company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Studios, Network, and DTC. The Studios segment produces and releases feature films for initial exhibition in theaters; produces and licenses television programs to its networks and third parties and direct-to-consumer services; distributes films and television programs to various third parties and internal television; and offers streaming services and distribution through the home entertainment market, themed experience licensing, and interactive gaming.