Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 766,504 Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 30.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,297,747 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 766,504 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $34,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the 4th quarter valued at about $168,930,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 151,285,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,248,109,000 after buying an additional 5,898,611 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 10,151,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,120,000 after buying an additional 5,272,717 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $23,825,000. Finally, LBP AM SA bought a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the fourth quarter worth approximately $21,032,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WBD opened at $10.98 on Wednesday. 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 $26.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.40, a PEG ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.48. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.64 and a 1 year high of $12.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.65.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.16 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Piazza Samuel A. Jr. Di purchased 17,346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.41 per share, for a total transaction of $197,917.86. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 159,932 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBD has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.50 to $10.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.91.

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.