Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD Holdings Raised by National Pension Service

Key Points

• National Pension Service boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 56% in the fourth quarter, buying more than 2.09 million shares and lifting its holdings to 5.83 million shares worth about $168.1 million.
• Warner Bros. Discovery recently reported weaker-than-expected earnings, posting EPS of -$1.17 versus estimates of -$0.10, while revenue came in at $8.89 billion and fell 1% from a year ago.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with the stock carrying a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $27.04, while insiders have also been selling shares in recent months.

National Pension Service boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 56.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,833,563 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,094,220 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.24% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $168,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBD. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 152.1% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 81.5% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4,730.8% during the 4th quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 1,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Shares of WBD opened at $27.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $67.72 billion, a PE ratio of -38.59 and a beta of 1.57. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a one year low of $9.11 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's fifty day moving average price is $27.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.25.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $8.89 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 4.77% and a negative net margin of 4.67%.The business's revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WBD. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Huber Research downgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Argus cut their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.04.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In related news, Director Paul A. Gould sold 600,000 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.35, for a total value of $16,410,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 244,357 shares in the company, valued at $6,683,163.95. This trade represents a 71.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Zaslav sold 4,004,149 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total transaction of $113,157,250.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 7,200,627 shares in the company, valued at $203,489,719.02. This trade represents a 35.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,206,827 shares of company stock worth $230,674,025. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

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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