Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Upgraded to “Buy” at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $27.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on WBD. Cowen lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Barclays set a $20.00 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.14.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Shares of WBD stock opened at $20.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.97 billion, a PE ratio of 69.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 52 week low of $7.49 and a 52 week high of $21.57.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.73 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 2.14% and a net margin of 2.00%.The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($4.07) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 252,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,352. This represents a 37.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 530,793 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total transaction of $10,350,463.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 970,115 shares of company stock worth $17,818,490. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 22.5% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 4,732 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 14,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 3,455 shares during the period. Conning Inc. purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000. Q3 Asset Management acquired a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery during the third quarter worth approximately $540,000. Finally, Mackay Shields LLC purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,812,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

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.