HighTower Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 242,969 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,540 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $7,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter worth approximately $483,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 350.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 9,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 7,635 shares during the period. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 634.4% during the fourth quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 417,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,042,000 after buying an additional 360,950 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,781,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,152,000 after buying an additional 147,475 shares during the period. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter worth approximately $223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:WBD opened at $27.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $67.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.57 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.19. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.11 and a 12-month high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($1.07). The company had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.89 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 4.67% and a negative return on equity of 4.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -0.71 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 672,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,847,624.98. The trade was a 47.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul A. Gould sold 600,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.35, for a total value of $16,410,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 244,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,683,163.95. The trade was a 71.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,206,827 shares of company stock valued at $230,674,025. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report 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. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Monday, March 9th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.