Estate Counselors LLC Purchases Shares of 75,852 Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• Estate Counselors LLC opened a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery, buying 75,852 shares in Q4 worth about $2.19 million, as institutions now own roughly 59.95% of the stock.
• Warner Bros. Discovery is facing governance and deal-execution risks—insiders have sold over 8.2 million shares (~$230.7M) in the past 90 days and consumer antitrust litigation plus critical coverage of CEO pay could delay or reshape the proposed merger; analysts remain mixed with a consensus “Hold” and a $26.30 price target after the company missed EPS estimates (-$0.10 vs. $0.09 expected).

Estate Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 75,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,186,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 81.5% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4,730.8% during the fourth quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 1,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 49.9% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 152.1% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 226.1% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley framed the Paramount–Skydance–Warner combination as “big, bold, and game-changing,” implying material strategic and value upside if the deal clears and assets are reweighted successfully. Paramount Skydance, Warner Bros. merger a 'big, bold, and game-changing move'—Morgan Stanley
• Positive Sentiment: Warner Bros. Discovery renewed CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels’s contract through April 2028 — a governance/stability signal that may reassure investors about execution on finance, integration and deal-related accounting. Warner Bros. Discovery Finance Chief Gunnar Wiedenfels Gets New Contract
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts maintain an average “Hold” on WBD, reflecting mixed views — upside tied to deal completion, downside tied to regulatory and execution risk. This keeps near-term analyst pressure balanced. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. NASDAQ: WBD Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: A recent valuation check highlights a disconnect between market signal and cash-flow estimates — useful framing for long-term investors but not an immediate catalyst absent changes to guidance or deal terms. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Valuation Check As Market Signals Clash With Cash Flow Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Consumer plaintiffs filed an antitrust and “viewpoint diversity” suit seeking to block the merger, a direct regulatory/legal threat that increases the probability of delays, divestitures or deal rejection. Save CNN: Paramount Hit With Antitrust & “Viewpoint Diversity” Suit By Consumers To Stop WBD Merger; Company Responds
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage of CEO David Zaslav’s compensation tripling to $165M and critical reporting about his role in the proposed sale raise governance and optics concerns that could weigh on sentiment and invite investor scrutiny. Warner Bros. CEO's pay package triples to $165M
• Negative Sentiment: Critical commentary and reporting (NY Post, Vulture) question management incentives and outline legal/competitive obstacles to the merger, amplifying reputational risk and potential regulatory pushback. David Zaslav isn’t just making himself rich selling Warner to Paramount — ask his employees

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In related news, Director Paul A. Gould sold 600,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.35, for a total value of $16,410,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 244,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,683,163.95. This represents a 71.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 617,580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total value of $17,446,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 691,570 shares in the company, valued at $19,536,852.50. This represents a 47.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,206,827 shares of company stock valued at $230,674,025 in the last ninety days. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WBD shares. Huber Research downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Friday, April 24th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Benchmark reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.30.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of WBD opened at $26.97 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average is $27.59 and its 200-day moving average is $26.47. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.06 and a fifty-two week high of $30.00. The company has a market capitalization of $67.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.00 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.19). Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 1.98% and a net margin of 1.95%.The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.20) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -0.1 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.