National Pension Service Raises Stock Position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• The National Pension Service significantly increased its ownership in Warner Bros. Discovery, adding approximately 32.6 million percent to hold 3,588,684 shares, valued at about $38.5 million.
• In recent activities, institutional investors collectively hold nearly 60% of Warner Bros. Discovery's stock, with various firms like Brighton Jones LLC and Federated Hermes boosting their stakes substantially in the last quarter.
• Warner Bros. Discovery reported a $0.63 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of ($0.16), indicating a potential turn in financial performance.

National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 32,624,300.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,588,684 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,588,673 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.15% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $38,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 448.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,877 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 2,352 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Warner Bros. Discovery 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 price 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 of the company's stock, valued at $9,526,600. This trade represents a 40.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

WBD stock traded up $0.0450 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $11.5850. 10,551,095 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 46,616,664. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.78 and a 52-week high of $13.86. The stock has a market cap of $28.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.58, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.57. 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's 50-day moving average is $11.79 and its 200 day moving average is $10.39.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($4.07) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current 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.