GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. Purchases 360,950 Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• GABELLI & Co. INVESTMENT ADVISERS dramatically increased its Warner Bros. Discovery stake by 634.4% in Q4, adding 360,950 shares to reach 417,850 shares valued at about $12.0 million.
• Insider selling has been heavy: directors and executives sold millions of shares over the last three months, including a 600,000-share sale by Gerhard Zeiler and a 35,000-share sale by Fazal F. Merchant.
• Analysts currently have a “Hold” consensus on WBD with a price target of $26.36, while the company recently reported Q1 EPS of -$1.17, missing expectations despite revenue coming in line at $8.89 billion.

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. boosted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 634.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 417,850 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 360,950 shares during the period. Warner Bros. Discovery comprises 1.8% of GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC.'s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC.'s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $12,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,425 shares of the company's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 2,494 shares of the company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 15,120 shares of the company's stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 6,095 shares of the company's stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Fazal F. Merchant sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.48, for a total value of $961,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 95,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,411.72. This trade represents a 26.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total transaction of $16,812,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 672,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,847,624.98. This trade represents a 47.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 8,206,827 shares of company stock worth $230,674,025 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark restated a "hold" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 27th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Huber Research downgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.36.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Warner Bros. Discovery stock opened at $26.98 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.33 and a 200-day moving average of $26.94. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a one year low of $8.82 and a one year high of $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $67.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.54 and a beta of 1.57.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($1.07). Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 4.67% and a negative return on equity of 4.77%. The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

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.

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