J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Makes New $1.15 Million Investment in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 39,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,147,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 51,920 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 50.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 63,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $679,000 after acquiring an additional 21,228 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,779 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 91.6% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. 59.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 374,323 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $10,499,760.15. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 663,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,607,809. This represents a 36.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total value of $16,812,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 672,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,847,624.98. This represents a 47.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,206,827 shares of company stock valued at $230,674,025. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WBD shares. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Monday, March 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $29.50 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.30.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Shares of WBD opened at $27.49 on Thursday. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a one year low of $7.52 and a one year high of $30.00. The company has a market cap of $68.17 billion, a PE ratio of 94.80 and a beta of 1.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.84 and a 200-day moving average of $25.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.33 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 1.98% and a net margin of 1.95%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.20) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Bros. Discovery 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.