Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,579,571 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 78,653 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $21,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 151,285,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,248,109,000 after buying an additional 5,898,611 shares during the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. raised its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 28,410,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,386,000 after purchasing an additional 5,625,545 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1,216.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,009,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,391,000 after purchasing an additional 2,780,986 shares during the period. Drexel Morgan & Co. grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Drexel Morgan & Co. now owns 6,600,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,454,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clifford Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter valued at $14,760,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, insider Savalle Sims sold 169,436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.36, for a total transaction of $2,094,228.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 599,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,407,558.12. This trade represents a 22.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WBD opened at $10.55 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.37. The company has a market cap of $25.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.30 and a beta of 1.52. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.64 and a 12-month high of $12.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $9.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.79 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 28.34% and a negative return on equity of 27.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.17) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WBD. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.44.

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.