Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Acquires Shares of 144,828 Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• Banco BTG Pactual opened a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery, buying 144,828 shares worth about $4.17 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains significant, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 59.95% of WBD shares. Several other funds also added to or initiated positions in the stock during the period.
• Analysts are mixed on WBD: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $27.04, while recent insider sales included a large disposal by Director Paul A. Gould.

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 144,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,174,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 81.5% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co increased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4,730.8% in the 4th quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 1,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WBD. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $23.50 to $27.75 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Arete Research restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $31.25 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.04.

Insider Activity at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, Director Paul A. Gould sold 600,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.35, for a total transaction of $16,410,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 244,357 shares in the company, valued at $6,683,163.95. The trade was a 71.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Fazal F. Merchant sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.48, for a total value of $961,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 95,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,411.72. This represents a 26.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 2.4%

WBD stock opened at $26.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.98 and a 12-month high of $30.00. The stock has a market cap of $67.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.37 and a beta of 1.54. The business's 50-day moving average is $27.13 and its 200 day moving average is $27.53.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($1.07). Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 4.77% and a negative net margin of 4.67%.The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.