HighTower Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC cut its Warner Bros. Discovery stake by 14% in the fourth quarter, selling 39,540 shares and ending with 242,969 shares valued at about $7.0 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with firms like Vanguard, Jericho Capital, and others adding shares; overall, 59.95% of Warner Bros. Discovery is held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Analysts are mixed on WBD: the stock currently carries a Hold consensus rating with an average target price of $26.36, while recent insider selling has been notable, including large sales by Bruce Campbell and Gerhard Zeiler.

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 242,969 shares of the company's stock after selling 39,540 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $7,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 283,180,433 shares of the company's stock worth $8,161,260,000 after buying an additional 1,966,278 shares during the period. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 108.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,095,390 shares of the company's stock worth $685,413,000 after buying an additional 18,291,865 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,496,725 shares of the company's stock worth $458,891,000 after buying an additional 876,869 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,820,858 shares of the company's stock worth $367,417,000 after buying an additional 1,658,317 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 15,523,538 shares of the company's stock worth $296,189,000 after buying an additional 5,798,592 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $31.00 price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 41,784 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.82, for a total transaction of $1,162,430.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 604,666 shares in the company, valued at $16,821,808.12. The trade was a 6.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total value of $16,812,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 672,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,847,624.98. The trade was a 47.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 8,206,827 shares of company stock valued at $230,674,025 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Shares of WBD opened at $27.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.69 billion, a PE ratio of -38.57 and a beta of 1.57. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.11 and a 1 year high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.89 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 4.77% and a negative net margin of 4.67%.Warner Bros. Discovery's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.18) EPS. On average, analysts predict 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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