First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 56.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,848,587 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,763,206 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.12% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $30,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Colonial Trust Advisors raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 71.8% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 2,383 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 313.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $9.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.01.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Piazza Samuel A. Jr. Di purchased 17,346 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 approximately $1,824,824.12. This represents a 12.17 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Shares of WBD traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,510,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,999,193. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.78. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.64 and a 52-week high of $12.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $21.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.88, a PEG ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.30). Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 28.34% and a negative return on equity of 27.56%. The business had revenue of $10.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.16 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.