Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases New Position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,183,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,738,000. Warner Bros. Discovery comprises about 0.9% of Magnetar Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Magnetar Financial LLC owned 0.13% of Warner Bros. Discovery at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WBD. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 51,920 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 50.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 63,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 21,228 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 6.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 91.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 116,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 55,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.8% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 111,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 4,062 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Monday, March 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.04.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ WBD opened at $26.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $66.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.00 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.60. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.27 and a 1 year high of $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($1.07). The company had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.89 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 4.77% and a negative net margin of 4.67%.The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Bros. Discovery Profile

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.