Paramount Global Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:PARA)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 16th, 2023

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA – Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 83,745 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 77% compared to the average volume of 47,415 call options.

Paramount Global Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of PARA stock opened at $15.96 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.40. 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 has a market capitalization of $10.40 billion, a PE ratio of -20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 1.65. Paramount Global has a fifty-two week low of $13.80 and a fifty-two week high of $27.49.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA – Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Paramount Global will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Paramount Global Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -25.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paramount Global news, Director Shari Redstone purchased 165,000 shares of Paramount Global stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 577,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,690,583.84. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paramount Global

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 54,882,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,224,418,000 after purchasing an additional 12,783,448 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Paramount Global in the 3rd quarter valued at $83,130,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paramount Global in the 4th quarter valued at $63,624,000. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 168.8% in the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 4,300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contrarius Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Contrarius Investment Management Ltd now owns 6,261,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464,943 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PARA shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Paramount Global from $25.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. Bank of America upgraded Paramount Global from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 28th. UBS Group cut their price target on Paramount Global from $15.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 5th. Loop Capital upgraded Paramount Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, May 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Paramount Global from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued 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 $20.00.

Paramount Global Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Paramount Global operates as a media and entertainment company worldwide. The company operates through TV Media, Direct-to-Consumer, and Filmed Entertainment segments. Its TV Media segment operates domestic and international broadcast networks, including CBS Television Network, Network 10, Channel 5, Telefe, and Chilevisión; and cable networks comprising Paramount Media Networks, Nickelodeon, BET Media Group, and CBS Sports.