Warner Bros. Discovery Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:WBD)

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 135,279 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 45% compared to the typical volume of 93,579 call options.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Warner Bros. Discovery stock traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $23.42. 49,342,522 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 48,275,934. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 1-year low of $7.52 and a 1-year high of $24.19. The firm has a market cap of $57.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.10. 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 (NASDAQ:WBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02). Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 2.14% and a net margin of 2.00%.The company had revenue of $9.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WBD. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Rothschild Redb upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Bros. Discovery

In related news, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 530,793 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total value of $10,350,463.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,141,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,252,425. This trade represents a 31.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce Campbell sold 289,322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 402,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,632,606.72. This trade represents a 41.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 1,192,325 shares of company stock valued at $22,818,215 over the last quarter. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Apexium Financial LP boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 17.1% during the third quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 16,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 2,355 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Financial Group acquired a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 3rd quarter valued at about $291,000. Laurion Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 313.4% during the 3rd quarter. Laurion Capital Management LP now owns 136,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,665,000 after purchasing an additional 103,469 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 3,016,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,884,000 after purchasing an additional 564,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 759.1% in the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,092,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848,799 shares during the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

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.