Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,251 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,865 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 151,285,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,248,109,000 after acquiring an additional 5,898,611 shares during the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 28,410,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,386,000 after acquiring an additional 5,625,545 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 21,396,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,523,000 after acquiring an additional 541,192 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 20,889,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 329,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,685,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,405,000 after acquiring an additional 687,612 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of WBD stock opened at $11.07 on Friday. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.64 and a fifty-two week high of $12.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.42, a PEG ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.48. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.36.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $10.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.16 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 28.34% and a negative return on equity of 27.56%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WBD. Wolfe Research raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.50 to $10.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, insider Savalle Sims sold 169,436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.36, for a total transaction of $2,094,228.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 599,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,407,558.12. This represents a 22.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Piazza Samuel A. Jr. Di bought 17,346 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.41 per share, with a total value of $197,917.86. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 159,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,824,824.12. This trade represents a 12.17 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

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.