Fazal Merchant Sells 71,539 Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Stock

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) Director Fazal Merchant sold 71,539 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.75, for a total value of $1,985,207.25. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $917,609.25. This represents a 68.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBD traded up $0.24 on Friday, hitting $27.99. The stock had a trading volume of 12,491,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,170,963. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.25 and a twelve month high of $30.00. The company has a market capitalization of $70.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.04 and a beta of 1.55.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.25 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 8.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Freedom Capital raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Huber Research raised Warner Bros. Discovery from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.69.

Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 283,180,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,161,260,000 after buying an additional 1,966,278 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 66,597,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,912,634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028,346 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter worth $1,123,807,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 27,462,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $791,476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254,813 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,496,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,891,000 after acquiring an additional 876,869 shares during the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Warner Bros. Discovery News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Merger expectations are supporting WBD. Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance shares are rallying as recent market activity suggests the Hollywood megamerger’s closing odds may be improving. Paramount’s reported willingness to consider selling CNN to address antitrust concerns could help resolve a key obstacle. Paramount and Warner Bros. Stocks Are Rallying
• Positive Sentiment: Warner Bros.’ “The End of Oak Street” is targeting as much as $48 million globally in its debut. A strong theatrical opening could provide a modest near-term boost to studio and film-distribution sentiment, although the impact on WBD’s overall financial results is likely limited. The End of Oak Street targets global debut
• Neutral Sentiment: The merger remains tied up in antitrust litigation. The parties have outlined discovery and other pretrial deadlines, with the legal process potentially extending toward a March 2027 trial. The long timeline keeps merger-related volatility elevated and delays certainty for WBD shareholders. Paramount-WBD antitrust trial schedule
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry groups including the DGA and IATSE are urging a faster resolution to the Paramount-WBD legal standoff, while Teamsters members are protesting Paramount over merger-related commitments. The developments increase political and labor pressure but do not yet establish the transaction’s outcome. Teamsters protest Paramount over merger
• Neutral Sentiment: WBD announced incubator productions for Food Network and discovery+, supporting its content pipeline but offering limited immediate financial impact. WBD Food Network and discovery+ productions
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales may weigh on investor confidence. Director Kenneth Lowe sold 120,000 shares for approximately $3.24 million, and Gerhard Zeiler sold 591,038 shares worth about $15.99 million. The filings do not explain the motivations, but the sizable reductions can be viewed as a negative sentiment signal. Gerhard Zeiler WBD share sale

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.