Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Upgraded at Moffett Nathanson

Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Sunday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on WBD. Huber Research downgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $29.50 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, February 27th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $31.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.30.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:WBD opened at $27.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.73 and a beta of 1.60. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 52-week low of $7.52 and a 52-week high of $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.33 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 1.98%. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. Analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Priya Aiyar sold 223,512 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total transaction of $6,311,978.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 919,252 shares in the company, valued at $25,959,676.48. This trade represents a 19.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaslav sold 4,004,149 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total value of $113,157,250.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 7,200,627 shares in the company, valued at $203,489,719.02. This trade represents a 35.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 7,571,827 shares of company stock worth $213,302,225 in the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBD. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 2,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC grew its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 6,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 15,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

Here are the key news stories impacting Warner Bros. Discovery this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moffett Nathanson upgraded WBD from Hold to Strong-Buy, a bullish signal that can attract demand from growth-oriented funds and help support the stock. Moffett Nathanson upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo started/renewed coverage with an Equal Weight and a $31 price target (~11.7% upside vs. current), which may give cautious investors a near-term valuation anchor. Wells Fargo coverage and $31 PT
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Tencent may be back funding the Paramount Skydance bid for WBD increase the likelihood that the $110B takeover can be financed, which supports takeover-premium expectations for WBD shares. Tencent back on Paramount-Warner deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Market chatter continues around deal structure (including possible passive Tencent investment) — important for deal certainty but still evolving; keeps volatility around M&A headlines elevated. Market chatter on Tencent/passive investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Press coverage noting political figures’ bond purchases tied to the broader bidding war is headline-grabbing but has limited direct impact on WBD’s fundamentals. Reuters on bond purchases
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America cut the price target on Paramount Skydance and flagged integration risks if Paramount acquires WBD — that raises uncertainty around deal execution and post-merger value for WBD shareholders. BofA flags integration concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Bruce Campbell disclosed a sale of ~41,784 shares (~6.5% reduction of his holding), which can be interpreted as a negative near-term signal by some investors. SEC Form 4: Bruce Campbell sale
• Negative Sentiment: Business Insider reports YouTube now generates more ad revenue than Disney, NBC, Paramount and WBD combined — a structural concern for WBD’s advertising revenue mix and pricing power. YouTube ad revenue dominance
• Negative Sentiment: Options flow shows moderately bearish positioning and increased demand for downside protection (put-call skew steepening), signaling short-term trader caution. Options traders bearish

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a global media and entertainment company formed when WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc combined their businesses in 2022. Headquartered in New York City, the company assembles a broad portfolio of film and television production, linear and cable networks, streaming services and consumer distribution operations. Its assets span well-known studio brands, premium scripted and unscripted programming, news and factual entertainment, and licensed franchise properties.

The company’s core activities include film and television production and distribution through units such as Warner Bros.