Corient Private Wealth LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• Corient Private Wealth cut its Warner Bros. Discovery stake by 25.4% in the second quarter, selling 95,549 shares and retaining 280,031 shares valued at $7.47 million. Institutional investors own approximately 59.95% of WBD.
• The proposed Paramount-WBD merger received a boost after the FCC approved foreign investment of up to 49.5%, while Paramount Skydance extended its offer deadlines. However, antitrust opposition from California and other states continues to pose risks of delays or a failed transaction.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with Barclays initiating an “equal weight” rating and a $29 price target; the overall consensus is “Hold” with a $28.22 target. WBD shares opened at $28.24, while recent earnings showed better-than-expected EPS but an 11.2% year-over-year revenue decline.

Corient Private Wealth LP decreased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 280,031 shares of the company's stock after selling 95,549 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP's holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $7,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.5% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,462 shares of the company's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 14,809 shares of the company's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.6% in the second quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 5,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Finally, Optas LLC grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.7% during the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 15,529 shares of the company's stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

Here are the key news stories impacting Warner Bros. Discovery this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The Federal Communications Commission approved foreign investment of up to 49.5% in the Paramount-WBD transaction, clearing the agency’s foreign-ownership and national-security review. The decision reduces one major hurdle for the proposed merger and supports the deal’s prospects. US FCC approves foreign investment in Paramount Warner merger deal
• Positive Sentiment: Paramount Skydance has extended the expiration dates for its tender and exchange offers, giving the transaction additional time to clear remaining legal and regulatory hurdles and reducing immediate pressure on WBD shareholders. Paramount Skydance extends offer expiration dates
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays initiated coverage of WBD with an “equal weight” rating and a $29 price target, indicating limited upside from recent trading levels. The firm also highlighted deleveraging and restructuring risks associated with the proposed roughly $110 billion merger. Barclays flags merger deleveraging and restructuring risks
• Negative Sentiment: California’s attorney general said the merger could harm the state’s video market, while Paramount is reportedly considering moving operations out of California amid the broader antitrust fight. Continued opposition from California and other states raises the risk of delays, costly litigation or a failed transaction. California attorney general discusses potential harm from Paramount-WBD merger
• Negative Sentiment: WBD Chief Accounting Officer Lori Locke sold 29,115 shares valued at approximately $819,000, reducing her direct ownership by about 25%. The transaction is a modest sentiment negative, though insider sales alone do not establish a change in the company’s fundamentals. WBD insider transaction filing

Insider Activity at Warner Bros. Discovery

In related news, insider Amy Girdwood sold 262,285 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.98, for a total value of $7,338,734.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 539,374 shares in the company, valued at $15,091,684.52. The trade was a 32.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 591,038 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.05, for a total value of $15,987,577.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 537,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,537,643.80. This represents a 52.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,782,149 shares of company stock worth $77,455,972 in the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBD has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Huber Research upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Barclays initiated coverage on Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Thursday. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $29.00 target price for the company. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.22.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ WBD opened at $28.24 on Friday. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $30.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.24 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.38 and a 200-day moving average of $27.21.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.20. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.25 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 8.91%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc is a global media and entertainment company that develops, produces and distributes television, film and digital content. Its portfolio includes Warner Bros. film and television studios, HBO, CNN, Discovery, TLC, HGTV, Food Network, TNT Sports and other well-known brands.

The company operates streaming services including Max, which features HBO programming, Warner Bros. films, original series and other entertainment content, and discovery+, which focuses on lifestyle, documentary and nonfiction programming.

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