Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.8%, selling 338,900 shares and retaining 6,775,127 shares (about 0.27% of the company) valued at roughly $132.32 million.
• Heavy insider selling: CEO David Zaslav sold 4,004,149 shares for about $113.16 million, and insiders have sold 7,571,827 shares (~$213.3 million) over the past 90 days, leaving insiders with 1.8% ownership.
• Analyst and financial context: The consensus rating is "Hold" with a $26.30 target after mixed analyst actions, and WBD recently missed EPS (‑$0.10 vs. $0.09 expected) while reporting $9.46 billion in revenue; the stock trades near $28 (1‑year range $7.52–$30).

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,775,127 shares of the company's stock after selling 338,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.27% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $132,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,503,989 shares of the company's stock worth $29,358,000 after buying an additional 144,310 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 17.0% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 948,386 shares of the company's stock worth $18,522,000 after acquiring an additional 138,018 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 16.5% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 14,955 shares of the company's stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 38.0% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 639,637 shares of the company's stock worth $12,492,000 after purchasing an additional 176,274 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 162.8% during the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 1,281,797 shares of the company's stock worth $25,033,000 after purchasing an additional 794,088 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WBD shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Monday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Argus cut their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $31.00 target price on Warner Bros. Discovery and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $29.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.30.

Insider Activity at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total transaction of $16,812,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 672,649 shares in the company, valued at $18,847,624.98. The trade was a 47.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaslav sold 4,004,149 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 7,200,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at $203,489,719.02. The trade was a 35.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,571,827 shares of company stock valued at $213,302,225. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Warner Bros. Discovery

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

• Positive Sentiment: Paramount CEO David Ellison met with Warner Bros. Discovery executives, called the prior bidding process “turbulent” but said it is “now behind us,” and praised HBO as a “gold standard” — language that suggests smoother deal communications and a reduced uncertainty premium if integration proceeds cooperatively. Paramount’s David Ellison Addresses Warner Bros. Execs at Town Hall
• Positive Sentiment: MoffettNathanson upgraded WBD from Hold to Strong-Buy, a bullish signal that can attract buy-side interest and support the stock if others follow. MoffettNathanson upgrade (via Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo resumed coverage and initiated WBD at Equal Weight with a $31 price target (about mid-teens upside), a cautious institutional view that may stabilize shares but is not strongly bullish. Wells Fargo coverage initiated
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Bruce Campbell sold 41,784 shares (~$1.16M). Single insider sales can be routine but may be viewed by some investors as reduced insider conviction or opportunistic profit-taking. SEC filing: Bruce Campbell sale
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America and other analysts flag major integration and execution risks around the Paramount Skydance acquisition of WBD, noting the deal could take years to deliver benefits — this raises downside risk to near-term earnings and free cash flow forecasts. Paramount Skydance price target lowered (Proactive Investors)
• Negative Sentiment: Options market shows moderately bearish flow and increased demand for downside protection (put-call skew steepening), indicating traders are hedging against near-term downside. Options traders moderately bearish (Yahoo Finance)
• Negative Sentiment: Structural ad-market pressure: YouTube now generates more ad revenue than major traditional media players combined, highlighting secular ad-revenue challenges for WBD’s ad-supported businesses. YouTube ad revenue outpaces traditional media (Business Insider)

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Warner Bros. Discovery stock opened at $27.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.79 billion, a PE ratio of 95.73 and a beta of 1.60. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a one year low of $7.52 and a one year high of $30.00. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $28.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.19). Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 1.98%. The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.20) earnings per share. Warner Bros. Discovery's revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Bros. Discovery 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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