Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) Short Interest Update

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 138,800,000 shares, an increase of 20.7% from the July 31st total of 114,980,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 31,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days. Approximately 6.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Macquarie lowered their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.25.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBD traded up $0.02 on Friday, hitting $7.75. The stock had a trading volume of 3,389,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,961,914. The company’s 50-day moving average is $7.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.14. The stock has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.23 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Warner Bros. Discovery has a one year low of $6.64 and a one year high of $13.31.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($4.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($3.89). Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 6.58% and a negative net margin of 7.45%. The business had revenue of $9.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.51) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 45.9% during the second quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 3,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 577.4% in the first quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 3,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 2,887 shares during the period. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.