Legal & General Group Plc Raises Stock Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,285,853 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 869,863 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.58% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $279,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 281,214,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,492,112,000 after purchasing an additional 18,736,600 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,091,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,798,000 after purchasing an additional 551,548 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.8% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 44,574,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233,195 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter worth about $306,848,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4,639.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,788,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,066,000 after buying an additional 22,308,046 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total transaction of $16,812,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 672,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,847,624.98. This trade represents a 47.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Priya Aiyar sold 223,512 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total value of $6,311,978.88. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 919,252 shares in the company, valued at $25,959,676.48. This trade represents a 19.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 7,571,827 shares of company stock valued at $213,302,225 over the last quarter. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Warner Bros. Discovery News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Paramount CEO David Ellison told Warner Bros. executives the prior bidding process was “turbulent” but “now behind us,” praised HBO as a “gold standard,” and signaled a cooperative tone that could reduce transaction uncertainty if integration proceeds smoothly. Paramount’s David Ellison Addresses Warner Bros. Execs at Town Hall
• Positive Sentiment: Research upgrade: MoffettNathanson (reported via Zacks) raised WBD to Strong-Buy from Hold, a bullish analyst signal that can attract buyers and support momentum if other firms follow. MoffettNathanson upgrade (via Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo initiated coverage at Equal Weight with a $31 price target — a stabilizing, but not strongly bullish, institutional view that suggests modest upside under current assumptions. Wells Fargo coverage initiated
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director/insider Bruce Campbell sold 41,784 shares (~$1.16M), which investors may interpret as opportunistic profit-taking or reduced insider conviction even if sales are routine. SEC filing: Bruce Campbell sale
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts (including BofA) warn the Paramount Skydance–WBD deal carries major integration and execution risks and could take years to deliver benefits, creating near-term downside risk to earnings and free cash flow forecasts. Paramount Skydance price target lowered (Proactive Investors)
• Negative Sentiment: Options market shows moderately bearish flow and greater demand for downside protection (put-call skew steepening), indicating traders are hedging for near-term downside despite relatively low implied volatility. Options traders moderately bearish (Yahoo Finance)
• Negative Sentiment: Structural ad-revenue pressure: YouTube now generates more ad revenue than major traditional media players combined, underscoring secular headwinds for WBD’s ad-supported businesses and long-term monetization. YouTube ad revenue outpaces traditional media (Business Insider)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WBD shares. Barrington Research lowered shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $23.50 to $27.75 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $29.50 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Argus lowered their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.30.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock opened at $27.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $68.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.90 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $28.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.64. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS 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 business had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.20) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share 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.