Kenneth Lowe Sells 120,000 Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Stock

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) Director Kenneth Lowe sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.97, for a total value of $3,236,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 990,108 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,212.76. The trade was a 10.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock opened at $27.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.85 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.16. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.25 and a 52 week high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.20. The company had revenue of $8.72 billion for 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%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue was down 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -1.13 EPS for the current year.

Key Warner Bros. Discovery News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Freedom Capital upgraded WBD from “hold” to “strong buy,” adding a bullish catalyst. The firm’s upgrade follows WBD’s recent earnings beat, although the company’s revenue declined year over year. Zacks.com
• Positive Sentiment: Paramount Skydance reportedly said that selling CNN is under consideration as a potential way to resolve California’s antitrust lawsuit against the proposed Paramount-WBD merger. A compromise could improve the deal’s odds of closing, though it would reduce some of its strategic benefits. Paramount says CNN sale is on the table
• Neutral Sentiment: Attorneys for the parties have outlined discovery and other deadlines for the pending antitrust trial, while industry groups including the DGA and IATSE are urging a faster resolution. The process provides a clearer timeline but indicates that merger uncertainty could persist into 2027. Paramount-WBD antitrust trial schedule
• Neutral Sentiment: WBD unveiled new incubator productions for Food Network and discovery+, offering additional content for its television and streaming businesses. The announcement is strategically supportive but is unlikely to materially change near-term valuation. WBD incubator productions
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales are weighing on sentiment. CEO David Zaslav reportedly sold approximately $21.7 million of WBD stock, while Director Gerhard Zeiler sold about $16.0 million and Director Kenneth Lowe sold roughly $3.2 million. The filings do not establish the reasons for the sales, but their size may concern investors. David Zaslav stock sale
• Negative Sentiment: Political and regulatory scrutiny remains intense, and Paramount’s threat to leave California highlights the difficulty of reaching a settlement. If the merger is delayed, blocked or materially altered, WBD shareholders could lose a major potential source of value. Political scrutiny of the Paramount-WBD deal

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WBD. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Friday, April 24th. Freedom Capital upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.69.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBD. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 51,920 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 50.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 63,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $679,000 after buying an additional 21,228 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 6.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after buying an additional 3,779 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 91.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 116,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,254,000 after acquiring an additional 55,837 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.8% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 111,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,277,000 after acquiring an additional 4,062 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.