Warner Bros. Discovery Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:WBD)

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 135,279 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 45% compared to the average volume of 93,579 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 289,322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.48, for a total transaction of $4,768,026.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 402,464 shares in the company, valued at $6,632,606.72. This represents a 41.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 530,793 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total value of $10,350,463.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,141,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,252,425. This represents a 31.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,192,325 shares of company stock worth $22,818,215. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $306,848,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4,639.8% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,788,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,066,000 after buying an additional 22,308,046 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 281,214,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,492,112,000 after acquiring an additional 18,736,600 shares during the last quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 108.9% in the third quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,095,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,413,000 after acquiring an additional 18,291,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the first quarter valued at $140,224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $16.00 to $23.50 in a research report on Friday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $14.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $16.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.92.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Up 4.2%

Warner Bros. Discovery stock opened at $23.69 on Wednesday. Warner Bros. Discovery has a fifty-two week low of $7.52 and a fifty-two week high of $24.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $9.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.17 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 2.14% and a net margin of 2.00%.Warner Bros. Discovery’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.05 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 EPS 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.