Morgan Stanley Boosts Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Price Target to $31.00

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $29.00 to $31.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 0.78% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WBD. Barclays assumed coverage on Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.34.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:WBD opened at $30.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.27. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 52-week low of $17.08 and a 52-week high of $30.92. The company has a market cap of $77.23 billion, a PE ratio of -24.22 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.20. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 8.91%. The company had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Amy Girdwood sold 262,285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.98, for a total transaction of $7,338,734.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 539,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,091,684.52. This trade represents a 32.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Lori Locke sold 29,115 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.13, for a total transaction of $819,004.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 86,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,444,665.78. The trade was a 25.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 2,782,149 shares of company stock valued at $77,455,972 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WBD. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 299,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,998,000 after buying an additional 20,180 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 9.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden raised its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 38.9% during the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 718,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,153,000 after purchasing an additional 201,200 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 128,364,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,422,202,000 after purchasing an additional 934,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Investments L P boosted 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 valued at $505,632,000 after purchasing an additional 2,604,732 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

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

• Positive Sentiment: State antitrust lawsuit settled: Paramount reached a settlement with attorneys general from 12 states, clearing what had been described as the final major legal hurdle to the merger. Management reportedly expects closing in roughly two weeks, potentially around September 30; delays could trigger a fee of approximately $650 million per quarter. Key terms of Paramount’s Warner Bros Discovery settlement with US states
• Positive Sentiment: Merger-related confidence: Reports say Paramount is considering adding Elon Musk to the investor group backing the acquisition. While unconfirmed, the possibility could support perceptions that Paramount is strengthening its financial backing for the deal. Paramount weighs adding Musk to investor group backing Warner deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst target increase: Morgan Stanley raised its WBD price target from $29 to $31 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, suggesting limited additional upside but acknowledging the stock’s improved near-term outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Settlement terms include concessions: The agreement reportedly involves production and labor-related commitments. A Trump Justice Department official said the settlement added no new antitrust-related commitments, but the comments may not end political and regulatory scrutiny. Trump DOJ official comments on Paramount-Warner Bros. settlement
• Negative Sentiment: High leverage and execution risk: Analysts expect the combined company to carry more than $77 billion in debt, while insiders reportedly anticipate significant layoffs and technology-stack conflicts after closing. These concerns could limit the merger’s financial benefits. Merged Paramount-Warner Bros. streaming and debt analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Political opposition remains: New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani criticized the transaction as allegedly corrupt, adding headline and reputational risk even as the legal settlement advances the deal. New York mayor criticizes Paramount-WBD merger

About Warner Bros. Discovery

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.