Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 69,152 Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 69,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $742,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WBD. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 48.0% in the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 5,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,644 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 287.1% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 530,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,691,000 after buying an additional 393,415 shares in the last quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the first quarter worth about $143,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.7% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 254,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,735,000 after buying an additional 9,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sessa Capital IM L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.0% in the first quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 29,555,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,128,000 after buying an additional 1,144,849 shares in the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Bros. Discovery

In related news, Director Anton J. Levy purchased 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.00 per share, for a total transaction of $825,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 949,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,439,000. The trade was a 8.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WBD. Bank of America raised 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 note on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Argus raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Huber Research raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.14.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of WBD stock opened at $12.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $12.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.55. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.78 and a 12 month high of $13.86. The company has a market capitalization of $30.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.59.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($4.07) earnings per share. Warner Bros. Discovery’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 earnings per share for the current year.

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.