Paramount Global Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:PARA)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 22nd, 2023

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA – Get Rating) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 70,745 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 52% compared to the typical daily volume of 46,595 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Shari Redstone purchased 165,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.06 per share, with a total value of $2,484,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 577,064 shares in the company, valued at $8,690,583.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paramount Global

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PARA. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Paramount Global by 17.3% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 72,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 10,684 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paramount Global in the first quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in shares of Paramount Global by 27.2% in the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 18,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Paramount Global by 1.0% in the first quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 293,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,551,000 after acquiring an additional 3,012 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Paramount Global by 4.6% in the first quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 22,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 997 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on PARA shares. StockNews.com began coverage on Paramount Global in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Friday, April 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Paramount Global from $15.00 to $13.00 in a report on Friday, May 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Paramount Global from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Paramount Global from $25.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.09.

Paramount Global Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ PARA opened at $15.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.18, a PEG ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 1.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Paramount Global has a 52 week low of $13.80 and a 52 week high of $27.49.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.42 billion. Paramount Global had a positive return on equity of 3.64% and a negative net margin of 1.49%. The firm’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Paramount Global will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paramount Global Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently -25.64%.

Paramount Global Company Profile

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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.