Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Moffett Nathanson raised their price target on the stock from $14.00 to $23.00. Moffett Nathanson currently has a buy rating on the stock. Warner Bros. Discovery traded as high as $19.70 and last traded at $19.62, with a volume of 6560447 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.33.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Argus raised Warner Bros. Discovery to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Huber Research raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 530,793 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total value of $10,350,463.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,141,150 shares in the company, valued at $22,252,425. This trade represents a 31.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruce Campbell sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 252,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,544,352. This trade represents a 37.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 970,115 shares of company stock valued at $17,818,490 over the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WBD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter worth about $306,848,000. Independent Franchise Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the first quarter worth about $140,224,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the first quarter worth about $96,971,000. Sound Shore Management Inc CT purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter worth about $97,951,000. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter worth about $77,896,000. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Down 0.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.43 billion, a PE ratio of 65.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.59.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.79. Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 2.14%. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($4.07) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc operates as a media and entertainment company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Studios, Network, and DTC. The Studios segment produces and releases feature films for initial exhibition in theaters; produces and licenses television programs to its networks and third parties and direct-to-consumer services; distributes films and television programs to various third parties and internal television; and offers streaming services and distribution through the home entertainment market, themed experience licensing, and interactive gaming.