Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Acquires 73,875 Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) by 6.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,269,292 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,875 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.05% of Warner Bros. Discovery worth $24,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 50.5% in the 1st 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 increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 6.2% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised 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 valued at $1,254,000 after buying an additional 55,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery during the second quarter valued at $344,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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: WBD-dominated Oscars night — Warner Bros. films “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners” won multiple Academy Awards (reporting up to 10–11 trophies), driving a PR boost for the studio’s premium content slate and signaling franchise/rights value ahead of strategic talks. Warner Bros. Cleans Up at the Oscars
• Positive Sentiment: CEO David Zaslav sent a celebratory company-wide email highlighting the “historic” night and original storytelling wins — a morale/PR lift that can support investor expectations for content monetization and negotiating leverage in M&A discussions. Zaslav Celebrates Oscars
• Neutral Sentiment: Pending Paramount Skydance takeover remains front-and-center — coverage frames the Oscars success as timely but the $110B deal (and related bidding dynamics) is the primary structural story that will ultimately determine valuation. Investors should watch M&A updates more closely than awards alone. Reuters: Oscar triumph bittersweet as Paramount deal looms
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary downplays the long-term market impact of awards (Oscars aren’t guaranteed to move box office/streaming revenue materially); treat the PR bump as potentially short-lived unless tied to monetization plans. Fool: Oscars not a big deal
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sale — Director Paul A. Gould sold 600,000 shares at ~$27.35 (≈$16.41M) and trimmed his stake by ~71%, disclosed in an SEC Form 4 filing. Big director sells can create near-term selling pressure or signal personal liquidity needs rather than confidence. Paul Gould SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Another insider sale — Director Fazal F. Merchant sold 35,000 shares at ~$27.48 (~$962k), reducing his holding by ~27%; adds to the raw selling flow that may offset some positive sentiment. Fazal Merchant SEC filing

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on WBD. TD Cowen increased their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating 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 report on Sunday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $29.00 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $20.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of 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. 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.30.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, Director Fazal F. Merchant sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.48, for a total value of $961,800.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 95,539 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,411.72. This trade represents a 26.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruce Campbell sold 41,784 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.82, for a total value of $1,162,430.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 604,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,821,808.12. The trade was a 6.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,206,827 shares of company stock valued at $230,674,025. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:WBD opened at $27.51 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.52 and a 1 year high of $30.00. The company has a market cap of $68.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.87 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $28.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.05.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.19). Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 1.98% and a net margin of 1.95%.The business had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.20) earnings per share. Warner Bros. Discovery’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current 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.