Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $10.50, but opened at $11.28. Warner Bros. Discovery shares last traded at $11.16, with a volume of 14,466,218 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James upped their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.75.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.50, a P/E/G ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.49.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.30). Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 27.56% and a negative net margin of 28.34%. The business had revenue of $10.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.16 billion. Analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Savalle Sims sold 169,436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.36, for a total value of $2,094,228.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 599,317 shares in the company, valued at $7,407,558.12. This trade represents a 22.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Colonial Trust Advisors grew its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 2,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 313.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,940 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 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.