State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 79,936 Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 9%, selling 79,936 shares, leaving it with 808,789 shares valued at approximately $8.68 million.
• Meanwhile, several institutional investors increased their holdings, with Dimensional Fund Advisors LP alone upping its stake by 63.7%, now owning 12,839,389 shares worth $137.7 million.
• Warner Bros. Discovery recently reported earnings of $0.63 per share, exceeding estimates, and forecasts an average EPS of -$4.33 for the current year according to analysts.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 808,789 shares of the company's stock after selling 79,936 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $8,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,153,859 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,111,000 after purchasing an additional 356,523 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 244,873 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,500,000 after purchasing an additional 44,674 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 121.4% during the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,523,407 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,003,000 after purchasing an additional 835,222 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 63.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,839,389 shares of the company's stock valued at $137,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,994,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 32,491 shares of the company's stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WBD. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven research 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's stock. According to 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 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.00 per share, with a total value of $825,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 949,000 shares in the company, valued at $10,439,000. This trade represents a 8.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBD opened at $11.85 on Monday. The company's 50-day moving average is $11.69 and its 200 day moving average is $10.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $29.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.57. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.78 and a fifty-two week high of $13.86.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.79. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.73 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 2.14%. The firm'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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share 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.

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