Sachem Head Capital Management LP Increases Stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Sachem Head Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 107.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,995,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,135,000 shares during the quarter. Warner Bros. Discovery comprises 5.4% of Sachem Head Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Sachem Head Capital Management LP’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $230,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WBD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 283,180,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,161,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,966,278 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 66,597,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,912,634,000 after buying an additional 1,028,346 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter valued at $1,123,807,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 108.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,095,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,413,000 after purchasing an additional 18,291,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 27,462,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $791,476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254,813 shares during the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Warner Bros. Discovery News

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

• Positive Sentiment: The DOJ reportedly cleared Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, removing a key antitrust obstacle and improving the chances the deal closes. Justice Department says Paramount’s Warner deal wouldn’t harm competition
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that the merger was approved helped fuel speculation that Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders could benefit from a takeover premium if the deal advances. Paramount-WBD merger wins approval from DOJ, source says
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholders rejected David Zaslav’s proposed $165 million pay package for 2025 in a non-binding vote, which adds governance noise but is not likely to change the near-term merger story. Warner Bros. Shareholders Reject David Zaslav’s $165 Million Pay Package for 2025

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Monday, March 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.04.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

WBD stock opened at $26.98 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.56. The stock has a market cap of $67.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.54 and a beta of 1.54. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.98 and a 1 year high of $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.89 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 4.77% and a negative net margin of 4.67%.Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

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.