Czech National Bank Increases Stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• The Czech National Bank increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, acquiring an additional 37,346 shares, bringing its total holdings to 550,324 shares valued at approximately $6.3 million.
• Insider trading shows significant sales, with CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels selling 530,793 shares and another insider Bruce Campbell offloading 150,000 shares, indicating a decrease in ownership of over 30%.
• Warner Bros. Discovery's stock is currently valued at $17.99 with a market cap of $44.54 billion, experiencing a 1.4% decline recently, and analysts hold a consensus rating of "Hold" with a price target of $13.25.

Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 550,324 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 37,346 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $6,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. ACT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 13.4% in the second quarter. ACT Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,023 shares of the company's stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.3% during the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 85,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 3,535 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.2% during the second quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,778,592 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,383,000 after purchasing an additional 21,303 shares in the last quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the first quarter valued at $988,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 34.9% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 7,035,842 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820,249 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, Director Anton J. Levy purchased 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.00 per share, with a total value of $825,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 949,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,439,000. This trade represents a 8.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 530,793 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total transaction of $10,350,463.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,141,150 shares in the company, valued at $22,252,425. This represents a 31.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 970,115 shares of company stock valued at $17,818,490. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WBD. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Huber Research upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.25.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of NASDAQ WBD traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.33. The company had a trading volume of 168,181,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 51,313,684. The business's 50-day moving average is $12.97 and its 200-day moving average is $10.87. 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 stock has a market cap of $47.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.59. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.25 and a 52 week high of $19.59.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.79. Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 2.14%. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($4.07) earnings per share. The business'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 earnings per share for the current year.

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.