Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 750,178 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 34,652 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $21,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the fourth quarter worth about $3,438,000. Hauser Brothers GmbH lifted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 19.8% in the third quarter. Hauser Brothers GmbH now owns 2,877,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,188,000 after buying an additional 476,000 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 32.7% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 175,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,423,000 after buying an additional 43,240 shares during the period. Triad Investment Management purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the fourth quarter worth about $9,383,000. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 916,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,419,000 after purchasing an additional 38,105 shares in the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WBD. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $31.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Monday, March 9th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.04.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of WBD opened at $26.23 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $65.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.47 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.14 and a 200 day moving average of $27.50. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.98 and a twelve month high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($1.07). The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.89 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 4.67% and a negative return on equity of 4.77%. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Warner Bros. Discovery

In related news, Director Fazal F. Merchant sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.48, for a total transaction of $961,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 95,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,411.72. This trade represents a 26.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul A. Gould sold 600,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.35, for a total transaction of $16,410,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 244,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,683,163.95. This trade represents a 71.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.