First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 28.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,342,809 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,309,320 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $65,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 3rd quarter valued at $443,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 29,882.6% in the 2nd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 62,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 61,857 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,463,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,049,000 after buying an additional 1,333,005 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,065,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,808,000 after acquiring an additional 37,986 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,572,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,019,000 after acquiring an additional 16,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Shares of WBD stock opened at $27.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $28.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $68.79 billion, a PE ratio of 95.73 and a beta of 1.60. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.52 and a 1 year high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its 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). Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 1.98%. The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.20) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

More Warner Bros. Discovery News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Moffett Nathanson upgraded WBD from Hold to Strong-Buy, a bullish signal that can attract demand from growth-oriented funds and help support the stock. Moffett Nathanson upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo started/renewed coverage with an Equal Weight and a $31 price target (~11.7% upside vs. current), which may give cautious investors a near-term valuation anchor. Wells Fargo coverage and $31 PT
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Tencent may be back funding the Paramount Skydance bid for WBD increase the likelihood that the $110B takeover can be financed, which supports takeover-premium expectations for WBD shares. Tencent back on Paramount-Warner deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Market chatter continues around deal structure (including possible passive Tencent investment) — important for deal certainty but still evolving; keeps volatility around M&A headlines elevated. Market chatter on Tencent/passive investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Press coverage noting political figures’ bond purchases tied to the broader bidding war is headline-grabbing but has limited direct impact on WBD’s fundamentals. Reuters on bond purchases
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America cut the price target on Paramount Skydance and flagged integration risks if Paramount acquires WBD — that raises uncertainty around deal execution and post-merger value for WBD shareholders. BofA flags integration concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Bruce Campbell disclosed a sale of ~41,784 shares (~6.5% reduction of his holding), which can be interpreted as a negative near-term signal by some investors. SEC Form 4: Bruce Campbell sale
• Negative Sentiment: Business Insider reports YouTube now generates more ad revenue than Disney, NBC, Paramount and WBD combined — a structural concern for WBD’s advertising revenue mix and pricing power. YouTube ad revenue dominance
• Negative Sentiment: Options flow shows moderately bearish positioning and increased demand for downside protection (put-call skew steepening), signaling short-term trader caution. Options traders bearish

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 374,323 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $10,499,760.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 663,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,607,809. The trade was a 36.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruce Campbell sold 41,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.82, for a total transaction of $1,162,430.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 604,666 shares in the company, valued at $16,821,808.12. This trade represents a 6.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,571,827 shares of company stock worth $213,302,225. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Moffett Nathanson raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley set a $29.00 target price on Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given 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 an average target price of $26.30.

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.