Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 145,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,533,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,650,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,670,519,000 after buying an additional 1,658,415 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,441,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,633,000 after buying an additional 1,991,441 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the fourth quarter worth $362,210,000. Slate Path Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $251,577,000 after buying an additional 6,381,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $249,545,000 after buying an additional 1,725,775 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Piazza Samuel A. Jr. Di bought 17,346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.41 per share, for a total transaction of $197,917.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 159,932 shares in the company, valued at $1,824,824.12. This trade represents a 12.17% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Friday, March 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.22.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Down 0.5%

WBD stock opened at $9.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a PE ratio of -2.00, a P/E/G ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.27 and its 200 day moving average is $9.86. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a one year low of $6.64 and a one year high of $12.70.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $8.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.66 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 28.34% and a negative return on equity of 27.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.40) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current 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.