Aviva PLC Raises Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)

Aviva PLC grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 1,421.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,408,258 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,315,719 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $14,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,650,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,670,519,000 after buying an additional 1,658,415 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,441,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,991,441 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $362,210,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,547,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,904,000 after purchasing an additional 861,656 shares during the period. Finally, Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the fourth quarter worth approximately $168,930,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.96.

Insider Activity at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, Director Piazza Samuel A. Jr. Di purchased 17,346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.41 per share, with a total value of $197,917.86. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 159,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,824,824.12. This represents a 12.17 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock opened at $8.09 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.77, a PEG ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.77. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.64 and a 52 week high of $12.70.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $10.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.16 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 27.56% and a negative net margin of 28.34%. As a group, analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.