Merit Financial Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)

Merit Financial Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,610 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,081 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 14,225,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,713,000 after purchasing an additional 4,275,994 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 16.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 28,184,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,085,000 after buying an additional 4,016,888 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 12.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 21,823,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,007,000 after buying an additional 2,356,665 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 1,232.7% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,648,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,898,000 after acquiring an additional 1,524,370 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 55.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,964,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415,744 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock opened at $8.04 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.80. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a one year low of $7.34 and a one year high of $14.76. The stock has a market cap of $19.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.28 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $10.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.34 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 7.57% and a negative return on equity of 3.48%. The company’s revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -0.35 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WBD. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $7.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.83.

Warner Bros. Discovery Company 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.