Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Now Covered by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock.

WBD has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Barrington Research lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Guggenheim cut Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $25.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Arete Research reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $31.25 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.30.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBD opened at $27.75 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.69 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.50. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 1 year low of $7.52 and a 1 year high of $30.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 1,580,331 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $44,249,268.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 690,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,320,784. The trade was a 69.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David Zaslav sold 4,004,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 owned 7,200,627 shares in the company, valued at $203,489,719.02. This trade represents a 35.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 7,777,159 shares of company stock worth $219,427,326 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery

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

Key Stories Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

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

• Positive Sentiment: Paramount Skydance’s winning bid and renewed investor support (including reported Tencent funding) increases deal certainty, which tends to lift takeover targets like WBD because it narrows the path to a premium exit for shareholders. Tencent Is Said to Be Back On Paramount-Warner Bros Deal With Fresh Funding
• Positive Sentiment: Market chatter reports a structure that could include a passive Tencent investment to support the Paramount‑WBD deal, which improves financing visibility and regulatory odds for the $110B transaction. Market Chatter: Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Skydance, Discuss Passive Tencent Investment for Acquisition Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo resumed/initiated coverage on WBD with an Equal Weight rating and a $31 price target, implying modest upside from current levels but not a strong buy signal; this provides a near‑term benchmark for investors. Wells Fargo resumes coverage / Benzinga summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that former President Trump bought Netflix and WBD bonds amid the bidding war add media and political noise but are unlikely to change fundamentals; they mainly attract headlines around the deal dynamics. Trump bought Netflix and Warner Bros bonds at height of bidding war with Paramount
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales disclosed in recent filings (including large blocks by executives) raise governance and signaling concerns; heavy insider selling often weighs on sentiment for stocks under takeover scrutiny. Insider Selling: Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Insider Sells
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst moves and commentary are mixed-to-cautious — MoffettNathanson cut to Hold and a veteran exec warned that a Paramount takeover could lead to reduced content output, which could hurt long‑term streaming economics and growth expectations. Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Cut to Hold at Moffett Nathanson Veteran media exec: Paramount’s acquisition … will likely result in reduced output

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.