Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on the stock from $9.00 to $13.00. The stock had previously closed at $10.82, but opened at $11.40. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Warner Bros. Discovery shares last traded at $12.34, with a volume of 16,720,608 shares.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on WBD. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim upped their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Friday, September 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 151,285,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,248,109,000 after purchasing an additional 5,898,611 shares during the period. Sessa Capital IM L.P. grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 28,410,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,386,000 after buying an additional 5,625,545 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 781.3% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 4,316,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,115,000 after acquiring an additional 3,826,715 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1,216.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,009,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,391,000 after acquiring an additional 2,780,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drexel Morgan & Co. boosted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 43.5% during the third quarter. Drexel Morgan & Co. now owns 6,600,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,454,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000,000 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Down 3.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.24. The company has a market capitalization of $29.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.64 and a beta of 1.52.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.12. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 27.56% and a negative net margin of 28.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.17) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.