West Tower Group LLC Sells 173,193 Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Key Points

• West Tower Group LLC cut its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 62.9%, selling 173,193 shares and retaining 101,977 shares (worth ~$1.99M), making WBD its fourth-largest holding at 5.8% of the portfolio.
• Warner Bros. Discovery missed quarterly expectations, reporting ($0.06) EPS vs. a ($0.04) consensus and revenue of $9.05B vs. $9.17B (down 6% YoY), with analysts forecasting a fiscal-year EPS of about -4.33.
• Insiders have sold a total of 489,326 shares (~$12.78M) in the past three months (including a 242,994-share sale by the CFO), while institutional investors own about 59.95% of the company, including large stakes from Vanguard and new buying by Norges Bank.

West Tower Group LLC decreased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,977 shares of the company's stock after selling 173,193 shares during the period. Warner Bros. Discovery comprises 5.8% of West Tower Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. West Tower Group LLC's holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $1,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 262,477,555 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,007,993,000 after purchasing an additional 5,657,524 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,091,463 shares of the company's stock valued at $685,798,000 after purchasing an additional 551,548 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 44,574,492 shares of the company's stock worth $510,824,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233,195 shares during the period. Sessa Capital IM L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 29,555,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $317,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the second quarter valued at about $306,848,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of WBD stock opened at $28.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $71.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 151.59 and a beta of 1.60. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.52 and a twelve month high of $30.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.48.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.02). Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 1.34% and a net margin of 1.28%.The firm had revenue of $9.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.05 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WBD. Seaport Global Securities boosted their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $15.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Friday, September 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $16.00 to $23.50 in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Lori C. Locke sold 4,122 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.92, for a total value of $119,208.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 100,962 shares in the company, valued at $2,919,821.04. This represents a 3.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 242,994 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.50, for a total value of $7,168,323.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 918,940 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,108,730. This represents a 20.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 489,326 shares of company stock worth $12,781,456 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

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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