Norges Bank Acquires New Stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 38,994,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,807,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 2,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 6,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 15,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 6,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on WBD shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Moffett Nathanson raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $31.00 price target on Warner Bros. Discovery and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $29.50 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Monday, March 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.04.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Down 0.1%

WBD stock opened at $27.01 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.25. The company has a market cap of $67.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.59 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.11 and a 52 week high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($1.07). The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -0.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $16,812,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 672,649 shares in the company, valued at $18,847,624.98. This trade represents a 47.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul A. Gould sold 600,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.35, for a total value of $16,410,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 244,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,683,163.95. This trade represents a 71.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,206,827 shares of company stock worth $230,674,025. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

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.