Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Trims Position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 693,877 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,927 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $19,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,966,278 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 66,597,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,912,634,000 after buying an additional 1,028,346 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,123,807,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 108.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,095,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,413,000 after buying an additional 18,291,865 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,496,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,891,000 after buying an additional 876,869 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, Director Fazal F. Merchant sold 35,000 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.48, for a total value of $961,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 95,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,411.72. The trade was a 26.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bruce Campbell sold 41,784 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.82, for a total value of $1,162,430.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 604,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,821,808.12. This represents a 6.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 676,784 shares of company stock valued at $18,534,231 in the last three months. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Monday, March 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.04.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBD opened at $26.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $65.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.49 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.40. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.11 and a 1-year high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($1.07). The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.89 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 4.67% and a negative return on equity of 4.77%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -0.93 EPS for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

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

• Positive Sentiment: Warner Bros. Discovery signed a World Series of Poker broadcast deal, which adds another content partnership and could support its media and sports programming strategy. WBD signs World Series of Poker broadcast deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts noted WBD has been little changed since its last earnings report, with investors still waiting for a clearer operational turnaround. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Down 0.4% Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Rebound?
• Neutral Sentiment: Paramount is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit aimed at blocking the Warner Bros. Discovery transaction, while other reports say states are preparing their own legal challenge, keeping the deal in limbo. U.S. states are preparing a lawsuit to block Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros
• Negative Sentiment: State attorneys general planning a lawsuit to block the Paramount Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is the biggest near-term concern, since it raises the odds of delay or even failure of the deal. Stock Market Today, June 5: Warner Bros. Discovery Falls on Reports of State Antitrust Challenge to Paramount Deal
• Negative Sentiment: Political scrutiny is increasing, with Senator Elizabeth Warren calling for a foreign-ownership review of the Paramount-WBD deal, adding another potential hurdle. Elizabeth Warren Calls For Foreign Ownership Review Of Paramount-WBD

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.