Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD Stock Position Lifted by Jones Financial Companies Lllp

Key Points

• Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 287.1% in Q1, acquiring 393,415 shares for a total of $5.69 million.
• Director Anton J. Levy bought 250,000 shares at $10.90 each, increasing his holdings by 40.06% in a recent transaction.
• Warner Bros. Discovery reported a Q2 EPS of $0.63, significantly surpassing consensus estimates of a loss, alongside a revenue of $9.81 billion, marking a 1.0% year-over-year increase.

Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 287.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 530,426 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 393,415 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $5,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 256,820,031 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,755,679,000 after purchasing an additional 4,169,240 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,341,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $465,052,000 after purchasing an additional 873,869 shares during the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 29,555,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $317,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,849 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 24,672,364 shares of the company's stock valued at $264,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,427,661 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,379,000 after purchasing an additional 430,787 shares during the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on WBD shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup dropped 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 report on Thursday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.20.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBD traded up $2.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $18.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 286,085,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 58,723,604. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $12.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.66. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a one year low of $7.25 and a one year high of $19.33. The company has a market cap of $46.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.59.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last released its 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 business had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($4.07) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 289,322 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.48, for a total value of $4,768,026.56. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 402,464 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,632,606.72. This trade represents a 41.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Anton J. Levy bought 250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was purchased 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 owned 874,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,526,600. This represents a 40.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

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.