Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC significantly reduced its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 56.4% in the first quarter, holding 59,653 shares worth $640,000 after selling 77,136 shares.
• Several investors, including Brighton Jones LLC, and Ossiam, increased their positions in Warner Bros. Discovery, indicating a mixed sentiment among institutional investors.
• Warner Bros. Discovery's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations with $0.63 EPS, against the consensus estimate of ($0.16), and the company reported a revenue increase of 1% year-over-year.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 56.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,653 shares of the company's stock after selling 77,136 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WBD. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company's stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 51,920 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,844,495 shares of the company's stock worth $82,906,000 after acquiring an additional 65,939 shares during the period. Ossiam increased its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 176.5% during the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 30,316 shares of the company's stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 19,352 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 594,288 shares of the company's stock worth $6,282,000 after acquiring an additional 10,679 shares during the period. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In related news, Director Anton J. Levy acquired 250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.90 per share, for a total transaction of $2,725,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 874,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,526,600. The trade was a 40.06% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.14.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBD opened at $11.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.78 and a 1 year high of $13.86. The company has a market capitalization of $28.57 billion, a PE ratio of 38.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $11.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.39.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last released 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. Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 2.14%. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($4.07) earnings per share. Warner Bros. Discovery's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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.

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