Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $25.52 and last traded at $25.1640, with a volume of 30335701 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Moffett Nathanson increased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.92.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 3.3%

The stock has a market cap of $62.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02). Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 1.28% and a return on equity of 1.34%. The business had revenue of $9.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.05 earnings per share. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, CAO Lori C. Locke sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.83, for a total transaction of $119,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 140,084 shares in the company, valued at $3,338,201.72. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 530,793 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,141,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,252,425. The trade was a 31.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 1,202,325 shares of company stock worth $23,053,615 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased 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 worth $729,000 after buying an additional 51,920 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,076,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,547,000 after acquiring an additional 81,815 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 40,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 8,196 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 135,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 22,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 2,253 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

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.