Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD Shares Purchased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 10.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,503,989 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 144,310 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $29,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 281,214,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,492,112,000 after purchasing an additional 18,736,600 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.9% in 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. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 44,574,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233,195 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter valued at approximately $306,848,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4,639.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,788,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,066,000 after buying an additional 22,308,046 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Shares of WBD stock opened at $27.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.52 and a 12-month high of $30.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $28.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.67. The company has a market capitalization of $68.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.63 and a beta of 1.60.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.19). Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 1.98%. The business had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 374,323 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $10,499,760.15. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 663,380 shares in the company, valued at $18,607,809. This trade represents a 36.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total transaction of $16,812,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 672,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,847,624.98. This represents a 47.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 7,571,827 shares of company stock worth $213,302,225 in the last 90 days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $29.50 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Barrington Research downgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Huber Research cut shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Argus decreased their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $25.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.30.

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.