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

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 37,709 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 162% compared to the average daily volume of 14,402 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PARA shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Paramount Global in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Macquarie reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Paramount Global in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Paramount Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paramount Global has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.50.

Institutional Trading of Paramount Global

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PARA. State Street Corp increased its position in Paramount Global by 18.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,154,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,695,000 after buying an additional 6,848,037 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC increased its holdings in Paramount Global by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 14,042,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,992,576 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Paramount Global by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,842,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,606,779 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Paramount Global by 602.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,783,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paramount Global by 16.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,394,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,533,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,592 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.00% of the company’s stock.

Paramount Global Stock Performance

NASDAQ PARA opened at $11.07 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.77. The firm has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.35, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Paramount Global has a 1 year low of $9.54 and a 1 year high of $15.70.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.25. Paramount Global had a negative net margin of 18.89% and a positive return on equity of 5.81%. The firm had revenue of $6.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Paramount Global will post 1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.