Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD Shares Sold by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lowered its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,646,515 shares of the company’s stock after selling 88,855 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC owned 0.07% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $47,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 6,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 49.9% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.1% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.4% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 11,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 1,580,331 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $44,249,268.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 690,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,320,784. This trade represents a 69.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 691,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,536,852.50. The trade was a 47.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,206,827 shares of company stock valued at $230,674,025. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on WBD shares. Arete Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $31.25 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. 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 report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.30.

Key Headlines Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

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

• Positive Sentiment: Paramount Skydance has syndicated its bridge loan and secured permanent bank financing to back the planned ~$111B acquisition of WBD, improving the odds the deal can close. Paramount seals debt commitments backing Warner Bros deal
• Positive Sentiment: Paramount Skydance secured roughly $24B of equity commitments from Middle Eastern sovereign funds, bolstering the financing package that supports the takeover and reducing deal execution risk. Paramount Skydance secures $24bn from 3 Middle Eastern sovereign funds for Warner Bros. deal
• Positive Sentiment: ISS (proxy adviser) recommended shareholders approve Paramount’s $31 per-share offer for WBD — a key endorsement that can help clear shareholder votes needed for the merger. ISS Backs $31 Offer For Warner Bros Discovery, Flags $500M Pay Package
• Neutral Sentiment: Ryan Gould of WBD was named chairman of OpenAP’s board — a modest positive for WBD’s ad-sales credibility but unlikely to move the stock materially. OpenAP appoints WBD’s Gould as Chairman of Board
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary that Netflix may be “cleaner” without the WBD deal affects industry multiples and peer valuations (benefitting Netflix more than WBD), but is secondary to takeover and financing developments. Netflix ‘Cleaner’ Without Warner Bros., Morgan Stanley Says
• Negative Sentiment: ISS urged shareholders to vote against WBD’s executive compensation proposal, calling David Zaslav’s ~$886–$887M golden parachute “extraordinary” — this governance fight could complicate shareholder support and create risk of a contested vote. David Zaslav Paramount deal ‘windfall’ payout: ISS says Warner Bros shareholders should vote against measure
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple outlets highlight ISS’s recommendation to reject the broader $1.35B in merger-related executive payments and related tax reimbursements — sustained negative governance headlines may weigh on sentiment until shareholder votes. Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav’s ‘extraordinary’ $887 million golden parachute gets ripped by proxy advisory firm ISS

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WBD opened at $27.53 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $68.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.93 and a beta of 1.63. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.61 and a twelve month high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.33 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 1.98% and a net margin of 1.95%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.20) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.