Strs Ohio Takes Position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, purchasing 1,274,007 shares valued at approximately $13.67 million, representing about 0.05% of the company's total shares.
• Insider activity saw director Anton J. Levy increase their ownership by 40.06% after buying 250,000 shares, while insider Bruce Campbell sold 289,322 shares, marking a significant decrease in their ownership.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for Warner Bros. Discovery, with Barclays raising its target from $9.00 to $13.00, while others have issued a mix of ratings ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Hold."

Strs Ohio 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 1,274,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,670,000. Strs Ohio owned 0.05% of Warner Bros. Discovery as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock traded up $0.59 on Monday, hitting $19.46. 106,697,043 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 71,001,016. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $12.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.71. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.25 and a 1-year high of $19.59. 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 (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm's revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($4.07) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Argus upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.20.

Insider Activity

In other 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 purchased 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 owned 874,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,526,600. This trade represents a 40.06% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruce Campbell sold 289,322 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.48, for a total transaction of $4,768,026.56. Following the sale, the insider owned 402,464 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,632,606.72. The trade was a 41.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

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.