Staley Capital Advisers Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Staley Capital Advisers Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 30.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 656,211 shares of the company’s stock after selling 292,600 shares during the period. Staley Capital Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $12,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 281,214,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,492,112,000 after acquiring an additional 18,736,600 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.9% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 44,574,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233,195 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter worth approximately $306,848,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4,639.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,788,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,066,000 after buying an additional 22,308,046 shares in the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Warner Bros. Discovery

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

• Positive Sentiment: Paramount’s bid for WBD (~$110B EV) has been accepted as the preferred offer, which provides a clear takeover premium for shareholders and a path to liquidity. Paramount To Acquire Warner Bros Discovery
• Positive Sentiment: A brokerage raised WBD’s price target to $26, signaling some upside from current levels if the deal prospects hold. Price Target Raised to $26.00
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and industry observers note that consolidation (fewer, larger streaming players) tends to support higher subscription pricing and lower churn, which could improve WBD’s long‑term margins under a combined owner. Streaming Is Going to Cost More
• Neutral Sentiment: Research firms Arete and Benchmark reiterated neutral/hold ratings, signaling wait‑and‑see sentiment on deal execution and post‑merger fundamentals. Arete Research Neutral Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Explanatory coverage and timelines summarize how Netflix exited the bidding and why Paramount emerged as the winner — useful context but not new catalysts by itself. Why Did Netflix Back Down
• Negative Sentiment: The NYT warns global regulators will closely scrutinize the $111B deal for competition issues — increased regulatory risk raises the chance of delays, remedies, or an altered deal that could reduce shareholder value. Paramount Won Over Warner Bros. Now for the Regulators
• Negative Sentiment: Political controversy: Sen. Elizabeth Warren publicly questioned White House interactions around the bidding, elevating political and reputational risk that could feed regulatory scrutiny or public pushback. Elizabeth Warren Questions Trump’s Role
• Negative Sentiment: Raymond James reiterated an Underperform rating, keeping a portion of the sell‑side cautious on WBD’s standalone fundamentals and deal execution risk. Underperform Rating Reiterated

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $23.50 to $27.75 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $20.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.39.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:WBD opened at $28.17 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.14 and a beta of 1.60. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.52 and a 52-week high of $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.33 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 1.98%. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. Analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Warner Bros. Discovery

In related news, 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 trade represents a 20.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Lori C. Locke sold 5,000 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.62, for a total value of $138,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 110,084 shares in the company, valued at $3,040,520.08. This trade represents a 4.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 257,116 shares of company stock worth $7,546,331 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.80% 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.