Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Upgraded at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) from a sell (d+) rating to a hold (c-) rating in a research report report published on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Friday, September 26th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.61.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

NASDAQ WBD opened at $17.10 on Wednesday. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 12 month low of $7.25 and a 12 month high of $20.24. The stock has a market cap of $42.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.00, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.73. The company’s 50 day moving average is $14.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($4.07) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 530,793 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total transaction 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 approximately $22,252,425. This trade represents a 31.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Anton J. Levy bought 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.00 per share, with a total value of $825,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 949,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,439,000. The trade was a 8.58% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 970,115 shares of company stock worth $17,818,490. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WBD. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 34.9% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 7,035,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,495,000 after acquiring an additional 1,820,249 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 11.2% in the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 156,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after acquiring an additional 15,786 shares in the last quarter. Country Club Bank raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 54.3% in the second quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 502,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,683,000 after acquiring an additional 176,994 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter valued at about $4,089,000. Finally, Hi Line Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 17.8% in the first quarter. Hi Line Capital Management LLC now owns 597,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,411,000 after acquiring an additional 90,462 shares in the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.