Forsta AP Fonden Decreases Stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden has sold 32,900 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, reducing its holdings by 6.7% during the first quarter, now owning 457,869 shares valued at $4,913,000.
• A number of analysts have raised their price targets for Warner Bros. Discovery, with Morgan Stanley increasing theirs from $10.00 to $13.00 and Bank of America from $14.00 to $16.00.
• Warner Bros. Discovery reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.63, exceeding expectations and reflecting a revenue of $9.81 billion, up 1.0% compared to the prior year.

Forsta AP Fonden lessened its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 457,869 shares of the company's stock after selling 32,900 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $4,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bristlecone Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the first quarter worth about $156,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 40.4% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,019,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,668,000 after buying an additional 581,308 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,314,822 shares of the company's stock worth $46,298,000 after buying an additional 617,534 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,900,519 shares of the company's stock worth $116,963,000 after buying an additional 1,578,944 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,130,229 shares of the company's stock worth $194,537,000 after buying an additional 1,583,067 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $11.78. The company had a trading volume of 52,823,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,106,113. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $28.92 billion, a PE ratio of 39.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.57. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a one year low of $6.78 and a one year high of $13.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.35.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.79. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.73 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 2.14% and a net margin of 2.00%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($4.07) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, Director Anton J. Levy purchased 250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.90 per share, with a total value of $2,725,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 874,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,526,600. This trade represents a 40.06% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WBD. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Argus upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays increased their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.14.

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.