Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $29.00 to $31.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 0.65% from the company’s previous close.

WBD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Barclays assumed coverage on Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Thursday, September 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. Huber Research upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.34.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Up 10.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:WBD opened at $30.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $77.33 billion, a PE ratio of -24.25 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 12-month low of $17.08 and a 12-month high of $30.92.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.25 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 8.91%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 591,038 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.05, for a total transaction of $15,987,577.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 537,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,537,643.80. This represents a 52.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Anton Levy sold 340,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.39, for a total value of $9,652,600.00. Following the sale, the director owned 618,067 shares in the company, valued at $17,546,922.13. The trade was a 35.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,782,149 shares of company stock valued at $77,455,972 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HBK Investments L P increased its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 18,965,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $505,632,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604,732 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 149,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,977,000 after purchasing an additional 15,374 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 35.3% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,792,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,076,000 after purchasing an additional 229,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 17.7% in the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 35,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 5,305 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Warner Bros. Discovery News

Here are the key news stories impacting Warner Bros. Discovery this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Antitrust settlement clears a key deal hurdle. Paramount Skydance reached a settlement with California and 11 other state attorneys general, resolving their lawsuit seeking to block the proposed roughly $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery transaction. The agreement allows the merger process to advance and substantially improves the probability of closing. Paramount settles with California and other states, clearing major hurdle for Warner Bros merger
• Positive Sentiment: Deal certainty drove the rally. Reports characterized the settlement as one of the final major obstacles to the merger, prompting heavy trading volume and a move to a new 12-month high. Investors appear to be pricing in a greater likelihood that WBD will receive the transaction consideration rather than remain exposed to its standalone operating challenges. Warner Bros. Discovery surges: Is this an indication of further gains?
• Neutral Sentiment: Concessions and closing conditions remain important. Reported settlement terms may include commitments such as increased film production investment in California. The deal still requires completion of remaining transaction steps, and the precise economic impact of the concessions is not yet fully clear. The final stretch: How the Paramount-WBD settlement came together
• Negative Sentiment: Financing and execution risks persist. Paramount is expected to carry approximately $80 billion of debt after closing, raising concerns about leverage and the ability to integrate and operate the combined media company. Critics also argue that the settlement provides limited protections for competition and workers, leaving potential political or regulatory criticism. Paramount could acquire Warner Bros. Discovery sooner than expected

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc is a global media and entertainment company that develops, produces and distributes television, film and digital content. Its portfolio includes Warner Bros. film and television studios, HBO, CNN, Discovery, TLC, HGTV, Food Network, TNT Sports and other well-known brands.

The company operates streaming services including Max, which features HBO programming, Warner Bros. films, original series and other entertainment content, and discovery+, which focuses on lifestyle, documentary and nonfiction programming.