Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired 71,553 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) valued at approximately $768,000 during the 1st quarter.
• Warner Bros. Discovery's recent earnings report showed a miss on EPS and revenue, with a negative net margin of 28.16% and an expected EPS of -4.33 for the current fiscal year.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of $12.41 for WBD, with twelve holding, eleven buying, and one strong buy rating issued on the stock.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 71,553 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $768,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WBD. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,441,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $605,633,000 after buying an additional 1,991,441 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the 4th quarter valued at $362,210,000. Slate Path Capital LP raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 23,801,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,577,000 after buying an additional 6,381,000 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 23,608,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,545,000 after buying an additional 1,725,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,996,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $243,077,000 after buying an additional 2,735,196 shares during the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Huber Research upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.41.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of WBD stock opened at $13.49 on Friday. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.64 and a 52-week high of $13.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.11 billion, a PE ratio of -3.07 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.12.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $8.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.66 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 30.56% and a negative net margin of 28.16%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.40) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

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.

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