Bullish insiders at Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) loaded up on US$1.6m of stock earlier this year

Quite a few insiders have dramatically grown their holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) over the past 12 months. An insider’s optimism about the company’s prospects is a positive sign.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

View our latest analysis for Warner Bros. Discovery

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Warner Bros. Discovery

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when insider Robert Bennett bought US$1.0m worth of shares at a price of US$19.00 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$13.83 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

While Warner Bros. Discovery insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn’t sell. The average buy price was around US$17.06. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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Warner Bros. Discovery is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Does Warner Bros. Discovery Boast High Insider Ownership?

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Warner Bros. Discovery insiders own about US$492m worth of shares (which is 1.5% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Do The Warner Bros. Discovery Insider Transactions Indicate?

There haven’t been any insider transactions in the last three months — that doesn’t mean much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. It would be great to see more insider buying, but overall it seems like Warner Bros. Discovery insiders are reasonably well aligned (owning significant chunk of the company’s shares) and optimistic for the future. While we like knowing what’s going on with the insider’s ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. To assist with this, we’ve discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Of course Warner Bros. Discovery may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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