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

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 27,695 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 61% compared to the average daily volume of 17,219 put options.

Institutional Trading of Paramount Global

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its position in Paramount Global by 100.3% in the 1st quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 2,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 140.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,395 shares during the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paramount Global during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Ossiam boosted its stake in Paramount Global by 57.2% during the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 2,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Paramount Global during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.00% of the company’s stock.

Paramount Global Stock Performance

Shares of PARA opened at $12.18 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.50 and a 200-day moving average of $11.17. The company has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a PE ratio of -1.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.25. Paramount Global has a one year low of $9.54 and a one year high of $13.05.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.02. Paramount Global had a positive return on equity of 5.81% and a negative net margin of 18.89%. The firm had revenue of $7.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Paramount Global will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PARA. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paramount Global in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Paramount Global from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Paramount Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $12.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Paramount Global in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Paramount Global from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.54.

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.