Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Warner Bros. Discovery has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with a 12-month price target of $13.14.
• Director Anton J. Levy purchased 250,000 shares of the company's stock for a total of $2.73 million, increasing his ownership by over 40%.
• The company reported earnings of $0.63 per share for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of a loss of $0.16.

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.1406.

Several research firms recently commented on WBD. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Huber Research upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, Director Anton J. Levy acquired 75,000 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.00 per share, for a total transaction of $825,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 949,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,439,000. This represents a 8.58% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 52.8% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,963,870 shares of the company's stock worth $79,805,000 after buying an additional 2,407,202 shares in the last quarter. Marex Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $235,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,365,000. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. now owns 8,160,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,521,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBD traded down $0.24 on Friday, hitting $11.80. The company had a trading volume of 57,911,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 49,056,952. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 1-year low of $6.78 and a 1-year high of $13.86. The stock has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.79. Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 2.14%. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($4.07) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 EPS for the current 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.