Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Research Coverage Started at Barclays

Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) in a report issued on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Huber Research raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Freedom Capital upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.22.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:WBD opened at $27.80 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.22. The stock has a market cap of $69.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.89 and a beta of 1.57. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 52-week low of $17.08 and a 52-week high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 8.91% and a negative net margin of 8.77%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, CEO David Zaslav sold 194,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total value of $5,463,871.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,807,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $190,758,310.68. This trade represents a 2.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Lori C. Locke sold 29,115 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.13, for a total transaction of $819,004.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 86,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,444,665.78. This trade represents a 25.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 2,782,149 shares of company stock worth $77,455,972 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 111.2% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 942 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 64.3% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp acquired a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the second quarter worth about $27,000. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

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

• Positive Sentiment: The Federal Communications Commission approved foreign investment of up to 49.5% in the Paramount Skydance-backed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The decision removes a significant foreign-ownership hurdle and improves the probability that the proposed transaction will proceed, although additional regulatory and legal approvals remain. US FCC approves foreign investment in Paramount Warner merger deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays initiated coverage of WBD with an “equal weight” rating and a $29 price target, implying limited upside from recent trading levels. The firm reportedly highlighted deleveraging and restructuring risks associated with the roughly $110 billion merger. Barclays flags deleveraging and restructuring risks in Paramount-WBD merger
• Negative Sentiment: California’s attorney general said the Paramount-WBD transaction could harm the state’s video market, adding to opposition from policymakers. Separately, reports that Paramount is considering leaving California underscore the political and legal tensions surrounding the deal and raise the risk of delays or a failed transaction. California attorney general says Paramount deal would hurt the state
• Negative Sentiment: Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Accounting Officer Lori Locke sold 29,115 shares for approximately $819,000, reducing her direct ownership by about 25%. The insider transaction is a modest sentiment negative, though it does not by itself signal a change in the company’s fundamentals. Warner Bros. Discovery insider transaction filing

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc is a global media and entertainment company that develops, produces and distributes television, film and digital content. Its portfolio includes Warner Bros. film and television studios, HBO, CNN, Discovery, TLC, HGTV, Food Network, TNT Sports and other well-known brands.

The company operates streaming services including Max, which features HBO programming, Warner Bros. films, original series and other entertainment content, and discovery+, which focuses on lifestyle, documentary and nonfiction programming.