Western Financial Corp CA Makes New $2.60 Million Investment in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Western Financial Corp CA acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 90,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,601,000. Warner Bros. Discovery accounts for approximately 1.0% of Western Financial Corp CA’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WBD. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% in 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 raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 50.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 63,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $679,000 after buying an additional 21,228 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 6.2% during 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 period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake 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 buying an additional 55,837 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 49.2% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 102,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 33,812 shares in the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $20.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $29.00 price target on Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $29.50 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.30.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Shares of WBD opened at $27.32 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $67.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.21 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.34. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.52 and a 52-week high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released 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 company 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 in the previous year, the business posted ($0.20) EPS. Analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Zaslav sold 4,004,149 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total value of $113,157,250.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 7,200,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,489,719.02. This trade represents a 35.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 47.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,206,827 shares of company stock valued at $230,674,025. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.