Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Price Target Raised to $15.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has raised its price target for Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $15.00 while maintaining an "equal weight" rating on the stock.
• In recent insider trading, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 530,793 shares of the company at an average price of $19.50, representing a significant decrease in ownership.
• Warner Bros. Discovery's stock opened at $19.79, and the company reported a 1% year-over-year revenue increase with a quarterly net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 2.14%.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's target price points to a potential downside of 24.22% from the stock's previous close.

WBD has been the subject of a number of other reports. KeyCorp dropped 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 report on Friday, August 8th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Huber Research raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $14.07.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock opened at $19.79 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.57, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business's fifty day moving average price is $13.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.10. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 1-year low of $7.25 and a 1-year high of $20.12.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 150,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $4,544,352. This represents a 37.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 530,793 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total transaction of $10,350,463.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,141,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,252,425. This represents a 31.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 970,115 shares of company stock valued at $17,818,490. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. North Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.