VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires Shares of 640,500 Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems acquired 640,500 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. for approximately $7.34 million in the 2nd quarter, highlighting growing investor interest in the company.
• Insider trading activity included significant sales by CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels and insider Bruce Campbell, collectively resulting in a 31.75% and 41.82% decrease in their respective ownership stakes.
• Recent analyst adjustments have increased price targets for Warner Bros. Discovery stock, with Seaport Global Securities raising their target from $15.00 to $24.00, indicating positive sentiment around the company.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 640,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,340,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WBD. Independent Franchise Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 1st quarter worth about $140,224,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 1st quarter worth about $96,971,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 682.8% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,145,308 shares of the company's stock worth $76,669,000 after purchasing an additional 6,232,561 shares during the last quarter. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 1st quarter worth about $65,031,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 63.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,839,389 shares of the company's stock worth $137,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,994,894 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 530,793 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total transaction of $10,350,463.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,141,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,252,425. The trade was a 31.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce Campbell sold 289,322 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.48, for a total value of $4,768,026.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 402,464 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 have sold 970,115 shares of company stock valued at $17,818,490 over the last 90 days. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 0.7%

Warner Bros. Discovery stock opened at $18.32 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.14. The company has a market cap of $45.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.73. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.25 and a 52-week high of $20.24. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($4.07) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Global Securities boosted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $15.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $16.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.00.

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.

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