Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $11.00 to $12.50. The stock had previously closed at $10.82, but opened at $11.40. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Warner Bros. Discovery shares last traded at $12.34, with a volume of 16,720,608 shares changing hands.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research raised Warner Bros. Discovery from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.95.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WBD. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,579,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,281,000 after acquiring an additional 78,653 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 37.7% in the third quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 6,886,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,868 shares during the last quarter. Hauser Brothers GmbH raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 56.1% in the third quarter. Hauser Brothers GmbH now owns 1,225,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,106,000 after purchasing an additional 440,000 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the third quarter valued at about $1,474,000. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the third quarter valued at about $588,000. Institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Up 15.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.73 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $9.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.21.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $9.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.79 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 28.34% and a negative return on equity of 27.56%. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.