Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Grows Holdings in Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) by 10.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,608 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,663 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Paramount Global were worth $187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PARA. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in Paramount Global by 46.1% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 388,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,571,000 after acquiring an additional 122,613 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Paramount Global by 6.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,090,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $730,805,000 after buying an additional 3,803,928 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in Paramount Global by 975.4% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 87,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,031,000 after buying an additional 79,430 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paramount Global by 40.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of Paramount Global by 33.9% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 406,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,790,000 after purchasing an additional 103,103 shares during the last quarter. 73.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PARA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim cut their target price on Paramount Global from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Macquarie reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Monday, November 11th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Paramount Global in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Paramount Global from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.40.

Paramount Global Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ:PARA opened at $10.33 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.03. Paramount Global has a one year low of $9.54 and a one year high of $17.50. The stock has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.26, 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 quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.25. Paramount Global had a positive return on equity of 5.81% and a negative net margin of 18.89%. The firm had revenue of $6.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. Paramount Global’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paramount Global will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paramount Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Paramount Global’s payout ratio is currently -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.