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

First Trust Advisors LP cut its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 28.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,342,809 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,309,320 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.14% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $65,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 152.1% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 66.5% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 1,242.2% during the 3rd quarter. Crews Bank & Trust now owns 1,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

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

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In related news, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 374,323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $10,499,760.15. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 663,380 shares in the company, valued at $18,607,809. This trade represents a 36.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaslav sold 4,004,149 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total value of $113,157,250.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 7,200,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,489,719.02. This trade represents a 35.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,571,827 shares of company stock worth $213,302,225. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on WBD shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $20.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Guggenheim downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $29.50 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Argus cut their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.30.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

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

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

Warner Bros. Discovery 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.