Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Acquires 5,142 Shares of Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:DISCA)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:DISCA) by 18.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,292 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,142 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Discovery Communications were worth $647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Discovery Communications by 74.0% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 835 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Discovery Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Eudaimonia Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Discovery Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Discovery Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Discovery Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. 36.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DISCA. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Discovery Communications from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Co decreased their price target on shares of Discovery Communications from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Discovery Communications in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target (down previously from $34.00) on shares of Discovery Communications in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $24.00 price target (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Discovery Communications in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.18.

NASDAQ DISCA opened at $20.30 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $21.09 and a 200-day moving average of $27.23. Discovery Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.12 and a 52-week high of $33.65.

Discovery Communications (NASDAQ:DISCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.03. Discovery Communications had a net margin of 18.54% and a return on equity of 23.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Discovery Communications Inc. will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In related news, Director John C. Malone sold 5,229 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.44, for a total transaction of $112,109.76. Following the transaction, the director now owns 780,591 shares in the company, valued at $16,735,871.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director J David Wargo sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.27, for a total transaction of $3,854,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $621,014.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Discovery Communications Company Profile

Discovery, Inc operates as a media company worldwide. The company operates through two segments, U.S. Networks and International Networks. The company owns and operates various television networks under the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Science Channel, MotorTrend, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, TVN, DIY Network, Cooking Channel, Discovery Family Channel, American Heroes Channel, Destination America, Discovery Life, Discovery en Espanol, Discovery Familia, Great American Country, the Oprah Winfrey Network, Eurosport, Discovery Kids, DMAX, and Discovery Home & Health brands, as well as other regional television networks.

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