North Growth Management Ltd. Trims Stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

North Growth Management Ltd. lowered its position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 45.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 556,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 471,000 shares during the period. North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $6,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter worth approximately $306,848,000. Independent Franchise Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the first quarter valued at $140,224,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the first quarter worth about $96,971,000. Sound Shore Management Inc CT purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 2nd quarter worth about $97,951,000. Finally, Apollo Management Holdings L.P. purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 1st quarter worth about $65,031,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 289,322 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.48, for a total transaction of $4,768,026.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 402,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,632,606.72. This represents a 41.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Lori C. Locke sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.14, for a total transaction of $120,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 120,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,898,827.76. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 1,207,325 shares of company stock worth $23,174,315 in the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Seaport Global Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $15.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays set a $20.00 price target on Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Benchmark raised their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Argus set a $27.00 target price on Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $28.00 price target on Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.92.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of WBD stock opened at $26.08 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $21.38 and its 200 day moving average is $15.57. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.52 and a 1-year high of $26.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $64.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 137.27, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.60.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02). Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 1.34% and a net margin of 1.28%.The firm had revenue of $9.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict 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.