West Tower Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• West Tower Group LLC cut its Warner Bros. Discovery stake by 36.2% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 65,030 shares worth about $1.87 million.
• Several insiders sold shares recently, including director Fazal F. Merchant and insider Gerhard Zeiler; insiders have sold 8.2 million shares over the last 90 days.
• Warner Bros. Discovery reported a Q1 EPS miss with earnings of -$1.17 per share, while revenue came in at $8.89 billion in line with estimates; analysts currently rate the stock Hold on average with a $26.36 price target.

West Tower Group LLC reduced its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 36.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,030 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,947 shares during the period. Warner Bros. Discovery makes up approximately 4.2% of West Tower Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. West Tower Group LLC's holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $1,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackay Shields LLC bought a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,812,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,775,964 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,685,000 after purchasing an additional 69,141 shares during the period. Private Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,438,000. Hauser Brothers GmbH grew its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hauser Brothers GmbH now owns 2,877,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,188,000 after purchasing an additional 476,000 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 175,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,423,000 after purchasing an additional 43,240 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, Director Fazal F. Merchant sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.48, for a total transaction of $961,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 95,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,625,411.72. This represents a 26.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 672,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,847,624.98. This represents a 47.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 8,206,827 shares of company stock worth $230,674,025 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ WBD opened at $27.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $68.18 billion, a PE ratio of -38.86 and a beta of 1.57. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a one year low of $8.82 and a one year high of $30.00. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $27.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($1.07). The business had revenue of $8.89 billion for 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 firm's revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WBD. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $29.50 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Arete Research reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $31.25 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Huber Research lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.36.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

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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