Moffett Nathanson Downgrades Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) to Hold

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) was downgraded by investment analysts at Moffett Nathanson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Moffett Nathanson’s price target indicates a potential upside of 10.99% from the stock’s previous close.

WBD has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $14.75 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $20.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Barrington Research lowered shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $29.50 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.99.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ WBD opened at $27.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $69.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.31 and a beta of 1.60. Warner Bros. Discovery has a twelve month low of $7.52 and a twelve month high of $30.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.27 and its 200 day moving average is $23.31.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.33 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 1.98% and a net margin of 1.95%.Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 1,580,331 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $44,249,268.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 690,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,320,784. This represents a 69.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 617,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $17,446,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 691,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,536,852.50. The trade was a 47.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 7,782,159 shares of company stock valued at $219,565,426 over the last 90 days. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WBD. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 49.9% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 152.1% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Warner Bros. Discovery News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Paramount/Skydance agreed to buy WBD assets in a deal that could deliver a takeover premium and simplify WBD’s portfolio — this is the primary bullish catalyst for shareholders. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Buyer leadership (David Ellison/Paramount/Skydance) publicly pledges to keep CNN independent, reducing regulatory and integration risk that might otherwise erode deal value. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and M&A presentations are framing the transaction as a strategic reset that could unlock value for WBD shareholders (materials outline bidder dynamics and potential synergies). Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Netflix has stepped back from the WBD bidding war and is refocusing on core streaming strategy — removes one potential suitor but also leaves bidders like Paramount to set the deal terms. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage notes Netflix received cash from its failed WBD bid and may redeploy capital elsewhere; this is relevant to the competitive landscape but not directly to WBD’s valuation. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-party market activity (reports of investors buying Netflix bonds and other opportunistic moves) reflects investor jockeying around the media deal but is peripheral to WBD’s fundamentals. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large, coordinated insider selling reported this week (CEO David Zaslav sold ~4.0M shares; CFO and other senior execs also sold large blocks) — big disposals can pressure sentiment and suggest insiders are taking liquidity or reducing exposure ahead of/after deal activity. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional insider sales (e.g., Amy Girdwood) and multiple large Form 4s amplify the selling signal and may trigger short-term profit-taking. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst pressure: Moffett Nathanson downgraded WBD to neutral (maintains $31 target) and Argus published a pessimistic forecast — bearish notes can cap the stock’s near-term upside and encourage selling. Read More. • Read More.

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

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.