Carmignac Gestion Buys 40,484 Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Carmignac Gestion increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 276,857 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,484 shares during the quarter. Carmignac Gestion’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $7,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WBD. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 111.2% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 942 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Field & Main Bank purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 64.3% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, CEO David Zaslav sold 194,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total transaction of $5,463,871.98. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,807,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,758,310.68. This trade represents a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 591,038 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.05, for a total value of $15,987,577.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 537,436 shares in the company, valued at $14,537,643.80. This trade represents a 52.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,290,749 shares of company stock worth $63,652,233. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on WBD. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Huber Research raised Warner Bros. Discovery from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Seaport Research Partners cut Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.69.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Down 0.5%

WBD traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $28.12. 14,135,629 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,622,781. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.60 billion, a PE ratio of -22.14 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.00 and a 52-week high of $30.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.25.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.20. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 8.91%. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

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.