Nuveen LLC Makes New Investment in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery, investing approximately $96.97 million for 9,037,358 shares during the first quarter.
• Various large institutional investors have also increased their stakes in Warner Bros. Discovery, with KBC Group NV boosting its holdings by 682.8%.
• Warner Bros. Discovery reported earnings of $0.63 per share for the latest quarter, significantly beating estimates, with revenues of $9.81 billion.

Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,037,358 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $96,971,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.37% of Warner Bros. Discovery at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WBD. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 51,920 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 32,118 shares of the company's stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 1,598 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 246,205 shares of the company's stock worth $2,602,000 after buying an additional 36,101 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 13,047 shares of the company's stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 1,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 143,882 shares of the company's stock worth $1,521,000 after buying an additional 51,329 shares in the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, Director Anton J. Levy acquired 250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 874,000 shares in the company, valued at $9,526,600. The trade was a 40.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WBD shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Argus upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.14.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ WBD traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $11.78. 53,355,841 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 73,137,200. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 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 company's 50 day moving average price is $11.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.36. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.78 and a 12 month high of $13.86.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.73 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 2.14% and a net margin of 2.00%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($4.07) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.