State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Holdings in Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its position in Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 202,070 shares of the company’s stock after selling 96,744 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Paramount Global were worth $2,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PARA. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Paramount Global during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Paramount Global in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paramount Global during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paramount Global in the first quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 22.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the period. 73.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PARA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Paramount Global in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paramount Global in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Paramount Global in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered Paramount Global from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Paramount Global from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $10.00 to $11.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paramount Global presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.47.

Paramount Global Price Performance

PARA stock opened at $10.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.32. Paramount Global has a 52-week low of $9.54 and a 52-week high of $17.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.13, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.75.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.21 billion. Paramount Global had a positive return on equity of 4.88% and a negative net margin of 17.62%. Equities research analysts forecast that Paramount Global will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paramount Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently -133.33%.

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.