Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.1406.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Argus raised Warner Bros. Discovery to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Huber Research raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Tuesday, June 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Anton J. Levy purchased 250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.90 per share, with a total value of $2,725,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 874,000 shares in the company, valued at $9,526,600. This trade represents a 40.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WBD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 262,477,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,007,993,000 after acquiring an additional 5,657,524 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,091,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,798,000 after acquiring an additional 551,548 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.8% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 44,574,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,824,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233,195 shares during the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.0% in the first quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 29,555,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,128,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter valued at about $306,848,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Up 4.0%

WBD opened at $12.05 on Friday. Warner Bros. Discovery has a fifty-two week low of $6.78 and a fifty-two week high of $13.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $29.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $11.85 and a 200-day moving average of $10.42.

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

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

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.