Legal & General Group Plc Purchases 869,863 Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,285,853 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 869,863 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $279,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WBD. Pinkerton Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the third quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Sienna Gestion boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 14.0% in the third quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 576,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,261,000 after acquiring an additional 70,754 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 10.6% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,503,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,358,000 after purchasing an additional 144,310 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 17.0% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 948,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,522,000 after purchasing an additional 138,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 16.5% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 14,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:WBD opened at $27.81 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $68.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.90 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.52 and a 12 month high of $30.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.64.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.33 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 1.98%. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.20) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Bros. Discovery

In related news, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 672,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,847,624.98. The trade was a 47.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 374,323 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $10,499,760.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 663,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,607,809. This represents a 36.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,571,827 shares of company stock worth $213,302,225. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate 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 Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Huber Research cut Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $23.50 to $27.75 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Arete Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.25 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $31.00 price target on Warner Bros. Discovery and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.