Pinkerton Wealth LLC Acquires 159,269 Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• Pinkerton Wealth LLC boosted its Warner Bros. Discovery stake by 1,060.1% in the fourth quarter, adding 159,269 shares to reach 174,293 shares valued at about $5.0 million.
• Warner Bros. Discovery continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with firms like Vanguard, Jericho Capital, and others increasing positions; institutional investors now own 59.95% of the company.
• Recent company and market headlines are mixed, but mostly focused on restructuring and takeover speculation, including Paramount merger chatter, debt-refinancing efforts, and some insider selling by executives.

Pinkerton Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 1,060.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 174,293 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 159,269 shares during the quarter. Pinkerton Wealth LLC's holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $5,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 283,180,433 shares of the company's stock worth $8,161,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,966,278 shares during the last quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 108.9% in the third quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,095,390 shares of the company's stock worth $685,413,000 after purchasing an additional 18,291,865 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,496,725 shares of the company's stock valued at $458,891,000 after buying an additional 876,869 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 9.7% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,820,858 shares of the company's stock valued at $367,417,000 after buying an additional 1,658,317 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 59.6% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 15,523,538 shares of the company's stock valued at $296,189,000 after buying an additional 5,798,592 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Key Warner Bros. Discovery News

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, a bullish signal that may be helping reinforce the case for a recovery in WBD shares. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Paramount wants to finalize its deal for Warner Bros. Discovery as early as July, suggesting the merger process could be moving faster than expected and fueling takeover speculation. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street banks are launching a loan sale to refinance Warner Bros.’ bridge facility, which could ease near-term financing pressure and support the company’s capital structure. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Warner Bros. Discovery announced consent solicitations for amendments to certain debt indentures, a routine restructuring step that appears aimed at supporting financing flexibility rather than changing the core business outlook. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Credit-ratings commentary tied to the Paramount/Warner Bros. merger raised concerns about debt quality, and an S&P downgrade tied to the transaction underscores the risk that the deal could pressure financing metrics. Article Title

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of the company'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 transaction, the insider owned 672,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,847,624.98. This represents a 47.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 617,580 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $17,446,635.00. Following 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,206,827 shares of company stock valued at $230,674,025. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WBD shares. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Friday, April 24th. Huber Research lowered shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $23.50 to $27.75 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.36.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBD opened at $27.42 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $27.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.06. 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 capitalization of $68.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.17 and a beta of 1.57. 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 (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 analyst estimates of $8.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. Warner Bros. Discovery's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate 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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