Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Warner Bros. Discovery Put Options (NASDAQ:WBD)

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 86,665 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 40% compared to the typical volume of 61,857 put options.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WBD opened at $7.73 on Friday. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 1-year low of $7.34 and a 1-year high of $14.76. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.28 and a 200 day moving average of $9.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.23 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.22 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 7.45% and a negative return on equity of 6.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $7.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $7.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.32.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 28,184,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,085,000 after purchasing an additional 4,016,888 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 25,534,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,579,000 after acquiring an additional 3,710,343 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 21,823,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,007,000 after acquiring an additional 2,356,665 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,873,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,692,000 after acquiring an additional 524,965 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 20,620,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,621,582 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

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.