Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD)

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 148,122 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 106% compared to the typical volume of 71,906 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter worth $1,123,807,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 108.9% during the third quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,095,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,413,000 after acquiring an additional 18,291,865 shares during the period. Duquesne Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter worth about $74,916,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 15,523,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,189,000 after acquiring an additional 5,798,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the 3rd quarter valued at about $100,135,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:WBD traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,475,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,049,666. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 1 year low of $10.76 and a 1 year high of $30.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.59. The firm has a market cap of $65.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.46 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($1.07). Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 4.67% and a negative return on equity of 4.77%. The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -1.07 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Huber Research raised Warner Bros. Discovery from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.04.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a global media and entertainment company formed when WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc combined their businesses in 2022. Headquartered in New York City, the company assembles a broad portfolio of film and television production, linear and cable networks, streaming services and consumer distribution operations. Its assets span well-known studio brands, premium scripted and unscripted programming, news and factual entertainment, and licensed franchise properties.

The company’s core activities include film and television production and distribution through units such as Warner Bros.