Byrne Asset Management LLC Buys New Stake in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. $WBD

Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 53,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,545,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 281,214,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,492,112,000 after acquiring an additional 18,736,600 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 44,574,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233,195 shares in the last quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 108.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,095,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,413,000 after purchasing an additional 18,291,865 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 2nd quarter worth about $306,848,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,496,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,891,000 after purchasing an additional 876,869 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

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

• Positive Sentiment: Significant decline in short interest versus late February — short interest fell to ~47.7M shares (down ~22.5% from Feb. 26), representing about 2.0% of float and a ~1.8 days-to-cover figure. Reduced short exposure can limit downside pressure from short squeezes and is a constructive technical sign.
• Positive Sentiment: Increased investor attention — WBD is a “trending” ticker on Zacks/finance coverage, which can boost retail engagement and liquidity. WBD Trending Stock (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed/erroneous short-interest feeds — several data entries reported zero shares or NaN changes for March short interest, indicating unreliable or delayed reporting from some data vendors; treat those data points cautiously.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader media context — coverage that groups WBD with other media names and sentiment-shift pieces (e.g., on Netflix/Oracle) may influence investor comparisons but does not directly change WBD fundamentals. Sentiment Shifts Article
• Negative Sentiment: Los Angeles County ordered an economic impact analysis of the proposed Paramount–WBD merger, with interim findings in 60 days and final recommendations in 120 days — this signals added local/regulatory scrutiny that could delay the deal or produce unfavorable recommendations for workforce and competitive impacts. LA County Merger Analysis (Deadline)
• Negative Sentiment: Opinion pieces urging antitrust rejection of any Paramount–WBD/Skydance tie-up increase political and regulatory risk, potentially weighing on deal odds and investor sentiment. Anti-Trust Op-Ed (MSN)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider/insider-adjacent selling reported — a congressman reportedly cashed out WBD shares that had risen substantially, which can be interpreted negatively by some investors even if driven by portfolio or personal reasons. Insider Sale Report (MSN)

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 672,649 shares in the company, valued at $18,847,624.98. The trade was a 47.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Fazal F. Merchant sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.48, for a total transaction of $961,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 95,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,411.72. This represents a 26.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,206,827 shares of company stock worth $230,674,025. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock opened at $27.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $67.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.87 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.73. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.52 and a 1-year high of $30.00. 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) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.19). Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 1.98%. The company had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.20) EPS. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $31.00 price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of 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. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $29.50 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One investment 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 an average target price of $26.30.

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.