Amundi Boosts Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• Amundi increased its Warner Bros. Discovery stake by 11.2% in the second quarter, adding 1.64 million shares to own approximately 0.65% of the company, valued at $435.2 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 59.95% of WBD.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with the stock carrying an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $27.69. WBD shares recently opened at $28.25, near their 52-week high of $30.00.
• WBD beat quarterly EPS expectations with $0.06 versus the projected loss of $0.14, but revenue fell 11.2% year over year to $8.72 billion. Insiders sold nearly 1.95 million shares worth about $54 million over the past 90 days.

Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,324,591 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,640,916 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.65% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $435,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 111.2% in the second quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 942 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Field & Main Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 64.3% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Huber Research upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Freedom Capital raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.69.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBD opened at $28.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.24 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.25. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.77 and a 1 year high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.25 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 8.91% and a negative net margin of 8.77%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Fazal Merchant sold 71,539 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.75, for a total value of $1,985,207.25. Following the sale, the director directly owned 33,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,609.25. The trade was a 68.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Zaslav sold 194,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total transaction of $5,463,871.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,807,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,758,310.68. This represents a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 1,950,749 shares of company stock valued at $53,999,633 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Profile

Warner Bros. Discovery NASDAQ: WBD is a global media and entertainment company formed when WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc combined their businesses in 2022. Headquartered in New York City, the company assembles a broad portfolio of film and television production, linear and cable networks, streaming services and consumer distribution operations. Its assets span well-known studio brands, premium scripted and unscripted programming, news and factual entertainment, and licensed franchise properties.

The company's core activities include film and television production and distribution through units such as Warner Bros.

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