Westport Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Westport Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 69,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,861,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.5% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 14,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.6% during the second quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 5,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 64.3% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC raised its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.7% in the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 15,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, CEO David Zaslav sold 194,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total value of $5,463,871.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 6,807,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,758,310.68. This represents a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Fazal F. Merchant sold 71,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 33,067 shares in the company, valued at $917,609.25. The trade was a 68.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,750,749 shares of company stock valued at $48,329,633. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ WBD opened at $28.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $71.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.46 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.17. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.25 and a fifty-two week high of $30.00. 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 (NASDAQ:WBD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.20. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 8.91%. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.69.

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.