Short Interest in Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) Expands By 23.6%

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 86,220,000 shares, an increase of 23.6% from the March 15th total of 69,730,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 37,770,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Piazza Samuel A. Jr. Di purchased 17,346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.41 per share, for a total transaction of $197,917.86. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 159,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,824,824.12. This trade represents a 12.17 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter valued at $362,210,000. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter valued at about $168,930,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 478.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,278,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,925,000 after purchasing an additional 11,810,191 shares during the period. Slate Path Capital LP grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 23,801,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,577,000 after purchasing an additional 6,381,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sachem Head Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery in the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,847,000. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WBD. Raymond James lowered their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.76.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBD opened at $7.94 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.73, a PEG ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 52-week low of $6.64 and a 52-week high of $12.70.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.30). Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 27.56% and a negative net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $10.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.16 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

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.