Brokerages Set Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) PT at $27.69

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.6912.

WBD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Seaport Research Partners lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Up 0.4%

WBD opened at $27.75 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.50 and a 200-day moving average of $27.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.85 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 1-year low of $11.25 and a 1-year high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.20. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.25 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 8.91%. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue was down 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kenneth W. Lowe sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.97, for a total value of $3,236,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 990,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,212.76. This represents a 10.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 591,038 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.05, for a total transaction of $15,987,577.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 537,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,537,643.80. This represents a 52.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WBD. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,616,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,301,000 after acquiring an additional 2,980,900 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 130.8% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,008,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,069,000 after purchasing an additional 571,612 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 51,920 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,372,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 66,597,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,912,634,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,346 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Warner Bros. Discovery

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

• Positive Sentiment: Freedom Capital upgraded WBD from “hold” to “strong buy,” adding a bullish catalyst. The firm’s upgrade follows WBD’s recent earnings beat, although the company’s revenue declined year over year. Zacks.com
• Positive Sentiment: Paramount Skydance reportedly said that selling CNN is under consideration as a potential way to resolve California’s antitrust lawsuit against the proposed Paramount-WBD merger. A compromise could improve the deal’s odds of closing, though it would reduce some of its strategic benefits. Paramount says CNN sale is on the table
• Neutral Sentiment: Attorneys for the parties have outlined discovery and other deadlines for the pending antitrust trial, while industry groups including the DGA and IATSE are urging a faster resolution. The process provides a clearer timeline but indicates that merger uncertainty could persist into 2027. Paramount-WBD antitrust trial schedule
• Neutral Sentiment: WBD unveiled new incubator productions for Food Network and discovery+, offering additional content for its television and streaming businesses. The announcement is strategically supportive but is unlikely to materially change near-term valuation. WBD incubator productions
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales are weighing on sentiment. CEO David Zaslav reportedly sold approximately $21.7 million of WBD stock, while Director Gerhard Zeiler sold about $16.0 million and Director Kenneth Lowe sold roughly $3.2 million. The filings do not establish the reasons for the sales, but their size may concern investors. David Zaslav stock sale
• Negative Sentiment: Political and regulatory scrutiny remains intense, and Paramount’s threat to leave California highlights the difficulty of reaching a settlement. If the merger is delayed, blocked or materially altered, WBD shareholders could lose a major potential source of value. Political scrutiny of the Paramount-WBD deal

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.