Leonteq Securities AG Acquires New Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• Leonteq Securities AG disclosed a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery, buying 65,621 shares valued at about $1.89 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional interest in WBD remains strong, with hedge funds and asset managers such as Vanguard, Jericho Capital, Allianz, and Amundi adding to or establishing positions; institutions now own 59.95% of the stock.
• Warner Bros. Discovery’s latest earnings were weak, as it reported a $1.17 EPS loss versus expectations for a much smaller loss, while analysts currently rate the stock a Hold with an average price target of $26.36.

Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 65,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,891,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WBD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 281,214,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,492,112,000 after acquiring an additional 18,736,600 shares in the last quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 108.9% during the third quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,095,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $685,413,000 after acquiring an additional 18,291,865 shares in the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery during the second quarter valued at approximately $74,916,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 170.1% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 9,326,978 shares of the company's stock valued at $182,156,000 after acquiring an additional 5,873,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 59.6% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 15,523,538 shares of the company's stock valued at $296,189,000 after acquiring an additional 5,798,592 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $29.50 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Monday, March 9th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.36.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock opened at $27.11 on Friday. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.83 and a 1 year high of $30.00. The firm has a market cap of $67.97 billion, a PE ratio of -38.73 and a beta of 1.57. 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 50 day simple moving average of $27.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.10.

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 (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 company had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, Director Fazal F. Merchant sold 35,000 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.48, for a total transaction of $961,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 95,539 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,411.72. The trade was a 26.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 374,323 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $10,499,760.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 663,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,607,809. The trade was a 36.07% 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 quarter. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

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

• Positive Sentiment: Paul Tudor Jones’ hedge fund reportedly bought 7 million shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), which may signal that sophisticated investors see upside in the company’s turnaround or merger-related value creation.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street banks led by JPMorgan reportedly expanded WBD’s refinancing loan package to more than $10 billion, suggesting lenders are still willing to support the company’s debt restructuring ahead of the planned Paramount merger. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports say Paramount is still aiming to close the merger as early as July, or by the third quarter, which keeps the deal timeline intact but does not remove execution risk.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary noted WBD shares outperformed peers on a strong trading day, reflecting renewed trading interest rather than a clearly company-specific catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Democratic senators raised concerns about foreign ownership in the proposed Paramount-WBD merger and urged a rigorous FCC review, increasing the chance of regulatory delays. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that bondholders are pushing back on the debt swap and that the merger could trigger credit downgrades highlight financing and credit-risk concerns around the deal, which may weigh on WBD sentiment. Article Title

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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