Saudi Central Bank boosted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD – Free Report) by 89.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 164,916 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,009 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $4,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 51,920 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 50.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 63,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $679,000 after buying an additional 21,228 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 6.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after buying an additional 3,779 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 91.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 116,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,254,000 after buying an additional 55,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $1,277,000 after buying an additional 4,062 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research firms recently issued reports on WBD. Zacks Research raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Huber Research upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.69.
Warner Bros. Discovery News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Warner Bros. Discovery this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Warner Bros. Discovery reached a deal with Turkey’s Doğuş Media Group to bring Turkish scripted programming to HBO Max. The agreement could improve the service’s international content offering and subscriber appeal. WBD partners with Doğuş to bring Turkish drama to HBO Max
- Positive Sentiment: WBD launched a shoppable streaming experience in Poland, creating a potential new advertising and commerce revenue channel. The financial impact is likely limited initially but supports its broader streaming monetization strategy. WBD launches shoppable streaming experience in Poland
- Neutral Sentiment: WBD will discontinue the standalone discovery+ app in India, apparently consolidating content within a broader HBO Max strategy. The move could reduce operating complexity, although it may risk disrupting some existing customers. WBD to discontinue standalone discovery+ app in India
- Neutral Sentiment: Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating on WBD, indicating limited conviction that the stock’s recent gains will continue without clearer improvement in profitability and its streaming outlook. WBD given consensus Hold rating
- Negative Sentiment: A director sold 200,000 WBD shares for approximately $5.67 million, reducing his direct holdings by 20.2%. While the sale may be personal or portfolio-related, the sizable insider transaction can weigh on sentiment. SEC insider-trading filing
- Negative Sentiment: A reported state antitrust lawsuit threatens Paramount’s proposed Warner Bros. Discovery deal, raising uncertainty over regulatory approval, timing and the potential value of the transaction. State antitrust lawsuit threatens Paramount’s Warner Bros. deal
- Negative Sentiment: Higher-rate expectations are pressuring higher-valuation media and streaming stocks. Although WBD has held relatively steady versus peers, the sector-wide repricing is limiting near-term upside. Rate repricing pressures streaming stocks
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, Director Fazal Merchant sold 71,539 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.75, for a total value of $1,985,207.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $917,609.25. This represents a 68.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 591,038 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.05, for a total value of $15,987,577.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 537,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,537,643.80. This represents a 52.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,950,749 shares of company stock worth $53,999,633. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance
WBD stock opened at $28.25 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $70.93 billion, a PE ratio of -22.24 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.26. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.77 and a fifty-two week high of $30.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.
Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.20. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 8.91%. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue was down 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -1.11 EPS for the current year.
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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