Newport Trust Company LLC Has $217.60 Million Stock Holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Newport Trust Company LLC lessened its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,550,349 shares of the company’s stock after selling 628,009 shares during the quarter. Warner Bros. Discovery comprises about 0.5% of Newport Trust Company LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Newport Trust Company LLC’s holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery were worth $217,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WBD. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 51,920 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 6.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 3,779 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 91.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 116,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,254,000 after buying an additional 55,837 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.8% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 111,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after buying an additional 4,062 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Key Warner Bros. Discovery News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Paul Tudor Jones’ hedge fund reportedly bought 7 million shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), which may signal that sophisticated investors see upside in the company’s turnaround or merger-related value creation.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street banks led by JPMorgan reportedly expanded WBD’s refinancing loan package to more than $10 billion, suggesting lenders are still willing to support the company’s debt restructuring ahead of the planned Paramount merger. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports say Paramount is still aiming to close the merger as early as July, or by the third quarter, which keeps the deal timeline intact but does not remove execution risk.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary noted WBD shares outperformed peers on a strong trading day, reflecting renewed trading interest rather than a clearly company-specific catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Democratic senators raised concerns about foreign ownership in the proposed Paramount-WBD merger and urged a rigorous FCC review, increasing the chance of regulatory delays. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that bondholders are pushing back on the debt swap and that the merger could trigger credit downgrades highlight financing and credit-risk concerns around the deal, which may weigh on WBD sentiment. Article Title

Insider Activity at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of the firm’s 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 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. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $10,499,760.15. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 663,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,607,809. This represents a 36.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,206,827 shares of company stock valued at $230,674,025 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $23.50 to $27.75 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $31.00 target price on Warner Bros. Discovery and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.36.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ WBD opened at $27.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $67.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.73 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.28 and its 200-day moving average is $27.10. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a one year low of $8.83 and a one year high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($1.07). The business had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.89 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 4.77% and a negative net margin of 4.67%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.