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Yacktman Asset Management LP Has $51.38 Million Stock Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

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Key Points

  • Yacktman Asset Management sharply reduced its Warner Bros. Discovery stake by 75.7% in the fourth quarter, selling more than 5.5 million shares and ending with 1.78 million shares worth about $51.4 million.
  • Warner Bros. Discovery’s latest quarterly results were weak, with EPS of -$1.17 far below expectations and revenue of $8.89 billion slightly below estimates and down 1% year over year.
  • Analyst sentiment is mixed but cautious: the stock’s consensus rating is Hold with an average target price of $26.36, while insider selling and large one-time charges have kept pressure on the shares.
  • Interested in Warner Bros. Discovery? Here are five stocks we like better.

Yacktman Asset Management LP cut its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report) by 75.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,782,860 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,555,477 shares during the period. Yacktman Asset Management LP owned 0.07% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $51,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WBD. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 51,920 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 50.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 63,254 shares of the company's stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 21,228 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 6.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,082 shares of the company's stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 91.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 116,821 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 55,837 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.8% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 111,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 4,062 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $23.50 to $27.75 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Huber Research lowered shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Arete Research reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $31.25 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.36.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

NASDAQ:WBD opened at $27.11 on Friday. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.82 and a 52 week high of $30.00. The firm has a market cap of $67.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.73 and a beta of 1.57. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $27.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current 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). Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 4.77% and a negative net margin of 4.67%.The business had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share. Warner Bros. Discovery's revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Bros. Discovery

In related news, CEO David Zaslav sold 4,004,149 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total transaction of $113,157,250.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 7,200,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $203,489,719.02. This trade represents a 35.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 617,580 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $17,446,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 691,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,536,852.50. This represents a 47.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 8,206,827 shares of company stock valued at $230,674,025 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

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

About Warner Bros. Discovery

(Free Report)

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.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WBD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Free Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD)

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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