Independent Franchise Partners LLP Buys New Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• Independent Franchise Partners LLP has acquired a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, purchasing approximately 13 million shares worth $140.2 million, making it the firm's 23rd largest position.
• Insider trading was noted as Director Anton J. Levy bought 250,000 shares, increasing their holdings by over 40% and bringing their total to around 874,000 shares.
• Warner Bros. Discovery reported better-than-expected earnings, with $0.63 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analyst estimates and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 1% to $9.81 billion.

Independent Franchise Partners LLP bought a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,068,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $140,224,000. Warner Bros. Discovery comprises 1.0% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Independent Franchise Partners LLP owned about 0.53% of Warner Bros. Discovery as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WBD. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 14,955 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 5.7% during the first quarter. CX Institutional now owns 27,324 shares of the company's stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 9.0% during the first quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,825 shares of the company's stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.6% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 62,966 shares of the company's stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 8.9% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,756 shares of the company's stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 1,618 shares during the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Anton J. Levy acquired 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.90 per share, for a total transaction of $2,725,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report 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 report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $13.14.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

WBD opened at $12.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.57. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.78 and a 52-week high of $13.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The business's fifty day moving average is $11.85 and its 200-day moving average is $10.42.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.79. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion for 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%.Warner Bros. Discovery's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($4.07) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Bros. Discovery 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.

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