Stephens Inc. AR Trims Stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,729 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,541 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 256,820,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,755,679,000 after purchasing an additional 4,169,240 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,341,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $465,052,000 after acquiring an additional 873,869 shares during the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 29,555,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,128,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,849 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in 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 valued at $264,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,427,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,379,000 after acquiring an additional 430,787 shares during the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on WBD shares. Barclays set a $20.00 price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $16.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.68.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBD opened at $21.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average is $16.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.47. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.49 and a 12-month high of $21.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.50, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.73.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($4.07) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $2,700,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 252,464 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,352. This represents a 37.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Anton J. Levy purchased 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.00 per share, for a total transaction of $825,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 949,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,439,000. This trade represents a 8.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 970,115 shares of company stock worth $17,818,490 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

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.