Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 639,637 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 176,274 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $12,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the 3rd quarter valued at about $443,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.4% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,463,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,049,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333,005 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,065,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,808,000 after purchasing an additional 37,986 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.0% in the second quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,572,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,019,000 after purchasing an additional 16,006 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,091,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,798,000 after purchasing an additional 551,548 shares during the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $29.00 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $29.50 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Argus reduced their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.30.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Warner Bros. Discovery stock opened at $27.44 on Friday. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.52 and a 12-month high of $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $68.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.63 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $28.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.67.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.33 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 1.98%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, insider Priya Aiyar sold 223,512 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total transaction of $6,311,978.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 919,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,959,676.48. This represents a 19.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 374,323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $10,499,760.15. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 663,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,607,809. The trade was a 36.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 7,571,827 shares of company stock worth $213,302,225 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a global media and entertainment company formed when WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc combined their businesses in 2022. Headquartered in New York City, the company assembles a broad portfolio of film and television production, linear and cable networks, streaming services and consumer distribution operations. Its assets span well-known studio brands, premium scripted and unscripted programming, news and factual entertainment, and licensed franchise properties.

The company’s core activities include film and television production and distribution through units such as Warner Bros.