Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Research Coverage Started at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on WBD. Huber Research lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Barrington Research downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Moffett Nathanson downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $20.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.30.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBD opened at $27.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $68.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.90 and a beta of 1.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.64. Warner Bros. Discovery has a fifty-two week low of $7.52 and a fifty-two week high of $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.33 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 1.98%. The business’s revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.20) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 1,580,331 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $44,249,268.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 690,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,320,784. This trade represents a 69.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Priya Aiyar sold 223,512 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total value of $6,311,978.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 919,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,959,676.48. This trade represents a 19.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 7,571,827 shares of company stock worth $213,302,225 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 51,920 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 50.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 63,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 21,228 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 91.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 116,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 55,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 53,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Warner Bros. Discovery

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

• Positive Sentiment: Paramount CEO David Ellison told Warner Bros. executives the prior bidding process was “turbulent” but “now behind us,” praised HBO as a “gold standard,” and signaled a cooperative tone that could reduce transaction uncertainty if integration proceeds smoothly. Paramount’s David Ellison Addresses Warner Bros. Execs at Town Hall
• Positive Sentiment: Research upgrade: MoffettNathanson (reported via Zacks) raised WBD to Strong-Buy from Hold, a bullish analyst signal that can attract buyers and support momentum if other firms follow. MoffettNathanson upgrade (via Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo initiated coverage at Equal Weight with a $31 price target — a stabilizing, but not strongly bullish, institutional view that suggests modest upside under current assumptions. Wells Fargo coverage initiated
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director/insider Bruce Campbell sold 41,784 shares (~$1.16M), which investors may interpret as opportunistic profit-taking or reduced insider conviction even if sales are routine. SEC filing: Bruce Campbell sale
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts (including BofA) warn the Paramount Skydance–WBD deal carries major integration and execution risks and could take years to deliver benefits, creating near-term downside risk to earnings and free cash flow forecasts. Paramount Skydance price target lowered (Proactive Investors)
• Negative Sentiment: Options market shows moderately bearish flow and greater demand for downside protection (put-call skew steepening), indicating traders are hedging for near-term downside despite relatively low implied volatility. Options traders moderately bearish (Yahoo Finance)
• Negative Sentiment: Structural ad-revenue pressure: YouTube now generates more ad revenue than major traditional media players combined, underscoring secular headwinds for WBD’s ad-supported businesses and long-term monetization. YouTube ad revenue outpaces traditional media (Business Insider)

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

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.