Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD Shares Acquired by California State Teachers Retirement System

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its Warner Bros. Discovery stake by 2,593.6% in the second quarter, owning 96.6 million shares worth approximately $2.57 billion, or 3.85% of the company.
• WBD shares opened at $28.20, near their 12-month high, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.06—above estimates—but revenue of $8.72 billion declined 11.2% year over year and missed forecasts.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with the stock carrying an average “Hold” rating and a $27.69 target price; meanwhile, insiders sold 2.55 million shares worth about $71 million over the past quarter.

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 2,593.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,581,582 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 92,996,028 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 3.85% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $2,574,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 111.2% in the second quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 942 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Field & Main Bank acquired a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 64.3% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Up 1.0%

WBD stock opened at $28.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $70.80 billion, a PE ratio of -22.20 and a beta of 1.57. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.56 and a 12 month high of $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.24.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.25 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 8.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WBD. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Freedom Capital upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Huber Research upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, Director Kenneth W. Lowe sold 200,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.35, for a total transaction of $5,670,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 790,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,399,561.80. The trade was a 20.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Anton J. Levy sold 340,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.39, for a total value of $9,652,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 618,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,546,922.13. This represents a 35.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,553,034 shares of company stock worth $70,990,967. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc is a global media and entertainment company that develops, produces and distributes television, film and digital content. Its portfolio includes Warner Bros. film and television studios, HBO, CNN, Discovery, TLC, HGTV, Food Network, TNT Sports and other well-known brands.

The company operates streaming services including Max, which features HBO programming, Warner Bros. films, original series and other entertainment content, and discovery+, which focuses on lifestyle, documentary and nonfiction programming.

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