Benchmark Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Stock

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Benchmark from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Benchmark’s price target indicates a potential upside of 11.77% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on WBD. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Barrington Research lowered shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $29.50 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Singular Research upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.18.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Warner Bros. Discovery stock opened at $28.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $70.94 billion, a PE ratio of 150.69 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.17. Warner Bros. Discovery has a fifty-two week low of $7.52 and a fifty-two week high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 1.34% and a net margin of 1.28%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Lori C. Locke sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.62, for a total transaction of $138,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 110,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,040,520.08. This represents a 4.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 242,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.50, for a total value of $7,168,323.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 918,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,108,730. The trade was a 20.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 489,326 shares of company stock worth $12,781,456. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 281,214,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,492,112,000 after purchasing an additional 18,736,600 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,091,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,798,000 after buying an additional 551,548 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 44,574,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,824,000 after buying an additional 1,233,195 shares during the period. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 108.9% during the third quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,095,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,413,000 after buying an additional 18,291,865 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the second quarter valued at $306,848,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a global media and entertainment company formed when WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc combined their businesses in 2022. Headquartered in New York City, the company assembles a broad portfolio of film and television production, linear and cable networks, streaming services and consumer distribution operations. Its assets span well-known studio brands, premium scripted and unscripted programming, news and factual entertainment, and licensed franchise properties.

The company’s core activities include film and television production and distribution through units such as Warner Bros.