Investors Buy High Volume of Paramount Global Call Options (NASDAQ:PARA)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 8th, 2023

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA – Get Rating) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 87,051 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 88% compared to the typical volume of 46,311 call options.

Insider Activity at Paramount Global

In other Paramount Global news, Director Shari Redstone purchased 165,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.06 per share, with a total value of $2,484,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 577,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,690,583.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paramount Global

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Paramount Global during the 2nd quarter valued at about $767,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new position in Paramount Global during the third quarter worth $12,089,000. Signaturefd LLC bought a new stake in Paramount Global in the 3rd quarter valued at $225,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Paramount Global in the 3rd quarter valued at $13,140,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Paramount Global in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,281,000. 74.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paramount Global Price Performance

NASDAQ:PARA opened at $16.40 on Thursday. Paramount Global has a one year low of $13.80 and a one year high of $31.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.86. The firm has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.03, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.65.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.03). Paramount Global had a negative net margin of 1.49% and a positive return on equity of 3.64%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Paramount Global’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Paramount Global will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Paramount Global Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently -123.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on PARA shares. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Paramount Global in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of Paramount Global from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 28th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Paramount Global from $32.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Friday, April 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Paramount Global from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paramount Global presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.09.

About Paramount Global

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Paramount Global operates as a mass media company, which creates and distributes content across a variety of platforms to audiences around the world. It operates its business through the following segments: Entertainment, Cable Networks, Publishing, and Local Media. The Entertainment segment is composed of the CBS Television Network, CBS Television Studios, CBS Studios International, CBS Television Distribution, CBS Interactive, and CBS Films, as well as the company’s digital streaming services, CBS All Access and CBSN.