Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Warner Bros. Discovery Call Options (NASDAQ:WBD)

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 135,279 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 45% compared to the average daily volume of 93,579 call options.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Up 3.0%

NASDAQ:WBD traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.42. The stock had a trading volume of 49,342,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 48,275,934. The company has a market capitalization of $57.99 billion, a PE ratio of 78.07, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.10. 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 has a twelve month low of $7.52 and a twelve month high of $24.19.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $9.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.17 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 2.14% and a net margin of 2.00%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 289,322 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.48, for a total value of $4,768,026.56. Following the sale, the insider owned 402,464 shares in the company, valued at $6,632,606.72. This trade represents a 41.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 530,793 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total transaction of $10,350,463.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,141,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,252,425. This represents a 31.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,192,325 shares of company stock worth $22,818,215. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 49.9% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 152.1% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 66.5% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1,242.2% during the 3rd quarter. Crews Bank & Trust now owns 1,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WBD shares. Benchmark lifted their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Arete lifted their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.92.

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.