Warner Bros. Discovery Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:WBD)

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 156,472 call options on the company. This is an increase of 52% compared to the typical daily volume of 103,237 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, November 7th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Arete Research raised Warner Bros. Discovery to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Argus set a $27.00 target price on Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.92.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Warner Bros. Discovery stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $24.22. The company had a trading volume of 26,982,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,796,449. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.29. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 52 week low of $7.52 and a 52 week high of $24.75.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $9.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In related news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 252,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,544,352. This represents a 37.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lori C. Locke sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 140,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,338,201.72. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,202,325 shares of company stock valued at $23,053,615. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBD. Brighton Jones LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 46,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 7,952 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,076,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,547,000 after purchasing an additional 81,815 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 40,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 8,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 68.4% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 489,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,257,000 after buying an additional 198,917 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.