Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) Shares Acquired by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• E Fund Management Co. Ltd. significantly increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. by 95.9%, owning 67,673 shares valued at approximately $726,000 by the end of the first quarter.
• Warner Bros. Discovery reported a quarterly revenue of $9.81 billion, surpassing analyst expectations, alongside an earnings per share of $0.63, greatly exceeding the consensus estimate.
• Currently, 59.95% of Warner Bros. Discovery's stock is held by institutional investors, with various analysts setting an average target price of $13.14 for the company.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 95.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,673 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,136 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 256,820,031 shares of the company's stock worth $2,755,679,000 after purchasing an additional 4,169,240 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,341,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $465,052,000 after acquiring an additional 873,869 shares during the period. Slate Path Capital LP boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 23,801,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,577,000 after acquiring an additional 6,381,000 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 23,608,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725,775 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,996,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $243,077,000 after acquiring an additional 2,735,196 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on WBD shares. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Anton J. Levy purchased 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.00 per share, with a total value of $825,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 949,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,439,000. This represents a 8.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBD opened at $12.05 on Thursday. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.78 and a 12 month high of $13.86. The stock has a market cap of $29.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.17, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.57. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $11.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.79. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 2.14% and a net margin of 2.00%. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($4.07) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Bros. Discovery Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.