Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 59,687 Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. by 4.3%, selling 59,687 shares in the first quarter, resulting in ownership of 1,336,285 shares valued at approximately $14.34 million.
• Director Anton J. Levy purchased 75,000 shares at around $11.00 per share, increasing his total ownership to 949,000 shares worth about $10.44 million.
• Warner Bros. Discovery reported earnings of $0.63 per share, surpassing analyst estimates of ($0.16), and had a revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,336,285 shares of the company's stock after selling 59,687 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned 0.05% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $14,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter valued at $4,914,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter worth about $3,022,000. Hi Line Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Hi Line Capital Management LLC now owns 597,478 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,411,000 after acquiring an additional 90,462 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 682.8% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,145,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,669,000 after acquiring an additional 6,232,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dupree Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the first quarter worth approximately $2,884,000. Institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WBD shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Bank of America increased their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Huber Research raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

WBD traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $11.64. The company had a trading volume of 60,181,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 46,981,516. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. 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 cap of $28.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.57.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.73 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 2.14% and a net margin of 2.00%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($4.07) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share 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.