Gabelli Funds LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 2.78 million shares valued at about $80.2 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains cautious: the stock carries a consensus “Hold” rating, with an average price target of $26.36 and several firms recently reiterating neutral-to-negative views.
• Warner Bros. Discovery reported a weak quarter, posting an EPS loss of $1.17 versus expectations for a much smaller loss, while revenue of $8.89 billion matched estimates but fell 1% from a year earlier.

Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,781,125 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 147,475 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.11% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $80,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co grew 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 worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners grew 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 847 shares during the period. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WBD. Arete Research restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $31.25 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Monday, March 9th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $29.50 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.36.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of WBD stock opened at $26.98 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $67.64 billion, a PE ratio of -38.54 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.82 and a twelve month high of $30.00.

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

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In related news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 41,784 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.82, for a total value of $1,162,430.88. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 604,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,821,808.12. This represents a 6.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 672,649 shares in the company, valued at $18,847,624.98. This represents a 47.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,206,827 shares of company stock valued at $230,674,025 over the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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