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

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 78,008 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 16% compared to the typical daily volume of 67,534 call options.

Paramount Global Price Performance

Shares of PARA opened at $11.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a PE ratio of -76.39, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.78. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.63 and its 200-day moving average is $12.32. Paramount Global has a fifty-two week low of $9.54 and a fifty-two week high of $17.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $7.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.73 billion. Paramount Global had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 3.35%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Paramount Global will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Paramount Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -133.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Paramount Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Argus downgraded shares of Paramount Global from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Paramount Global from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Paramount Global from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $9.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paramount Global

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PARA. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paramount Global in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paramount Global in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new position in shares of Paramount Global in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Paramount Global in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paramount Global in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. 73.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.