Empowered Funds LLC Sells 4,656 Shares of Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) by 30.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,735 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,656 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Paramount Global were worth $114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PARA. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Paramount Global by 6.9% in the second quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 864,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,980,000 after purchasing an additional 56,021 shares during the last quarter. Hoertkorn Richard Charles raised its holdings in Paramount Global by 38.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hoertkorn Richard Charles now owns 221,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after buying an additional 61,191 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Paramount Global during the 3rd quarter valued at $7,222,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Paramount Global by 798.0% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 684,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,110,000 after acquiring an additional 608,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Paramount Global by 22.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 683,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,258,000 after acquiring an additional 124,740 shares during the period. 73.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PARA shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Paramount Global in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Macquarie reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Paramount Global in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Paramount Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Paramount Global from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $11.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Paramount Global from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.40.

Paramount Global Stock Down 4.3 %

Paramount Global stock opened at $10.64 on Wednesday. Paramount Global has a 12 month low of $9.54 and a 12 month high of $17.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a PE ratio of -1.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.97.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $6.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.94 billion. Paramount Global had a positive return on equity of 5.81% and a negative net margin of 18.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Paramount Global will post 1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paramount Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -2.43%.

About Paramount Global

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.