Invesco Ltd. Raises Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, holding 43,341,297 shares valued at approximately $465 million, marking a 2.1% boost in the first quarter.
• Research firms have recently changed their ratings and price targets for Warner Bros. Discovery, with Barclays raising its target from $9.00 to $13.00 and Barrington Research setting a target of $16.00, reflecting a generally positive outlook.
• In its latest earnings report, Warner Bros. Discovery outperformed expectations with an EPS of $0.63 and revenue of $9.81 billion, showing a growth of 1.0% from the previous year.

Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,341,297 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 873,869 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.77% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $465,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the first quarter worth $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 448.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 2,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

WBD stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $11.78. The company had a trading volume of 52,831,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,152,520. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a twelve month low of $6.78 and a twelve month high of $13.86. The company has a market cap of $28.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.35.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.79. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($4.07) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Anton J. Levy acquired 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.14.

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.