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

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 80,915 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 42% compared to the typical volume of 57,112 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paramount Global

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Paramount Global by 541.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 708,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,481,000 after buying an additional 598,235 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC raised its stake in Paramount Global by 18.0% during the third quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 11,330,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,714 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Paramount Global in the third quarter worth about $1,240,000. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 50,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 1,201.5% during the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 84,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 78,100 shares during the last quarter. 73.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PARA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised Paramount Global from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Paramount Global from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Paramount Global from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Paramount Global from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price target on Paramount Global from $30.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paramount Global has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.79.

Paramount Global Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PARA traded up $1.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $12.44. 29,113,413 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,011,357. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a PE ratio of -11.79, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.77. Paramount Global has a 52 week low of $10.12 and a 52 week high of $24.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50 day moving average is $11.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.85.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.80 billion. Paramount Global had a negative net margin of 2.05% and a positive return on equity of 1.78%. Paramount Global’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paramount Global will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Paramount Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently -19.61%.

Paramount Global Company Profile

Paramount Global operates as a media, streaming, and entertainment company worldwide. It operates through TV Media, Direct-to-Consumer, and Filmed Entertainment segments. The TV Media segment operates CBS Television Network, a domestic broadcast television network; CBS Stations, a television station; and international free-to-air networks comprising Network 10, Channel 5, Telefe, and Chilevisión; domestic premium and basic cable networks, such as Paramount+ with Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, The Smithsonian Channel, Nickelodeon, BET Media Group, and CBS Sports Network; and international extensions of these brands.