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

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 58,442 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 31% compared to the average daily volume of 44,598 call options.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

WBD opened at $9.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.95 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $7.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.83. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 1-year low of $6.64 and a 1-year high of $12.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($4.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($3.89). The firm had revenue of $9.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.07 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 27.28% and a negative net margin of 29.47%. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.51) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WBD. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Macquarie lowered their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.66.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WBD. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.1% in the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 459,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,013,000 after purchasing an additional 5,063 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the 1st quarter worth approximately $979,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 458,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,002,000 after purchasing an additional 5,830 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 79,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the first quarter worth $457,000. 59.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.