Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday . 2,672,416 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 22% from the previous session’s volume of 3,415,089 shares.The stock last traded at $28.57 and had previously closed at $26.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Pivotal Research cut their target price on Sirius XM from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Sirius XM from $32.50 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Sirius XM in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Sirius XM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Guggenheim raised Sirius XM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sirius XM currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.69.

Sirius XM Trading Up 3.7 %

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.36. The company has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a PE ratio of -4.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.04.

Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Sirius XM had a negative return on equity of 52.15% and a net margin of 14.56%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sirius XM Holdings Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sirius XM Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Sirius XM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Sirius XM’s payout ratio is -17.03%.

Insider Transactions at Sirius XM

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 869,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.55 per share, with a total value of $20,483,790.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 106,024,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,496,884,722.95. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Scott Andrew Greenstein sold 144,723 shares of Sirius XM stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.60, for a total transaction of $4,573,246.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 98,933 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,282.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 869,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $23.55 per share, with a total value of $20,483,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 106,024,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,496,884,722.95. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 2,646,761 shares of company stock valued at $65,952,329 in the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SIRI. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Sirius XM by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,099,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,145,000 after acquiring an additional 50,323 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its holdings in Sirius XM by 1,559.4% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 242,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $940,000 after acquiring an additional 227,578 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sirius XM by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 54,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 13,364 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Sirius XM during the 1st quarter valued at $2,036,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Sirius XM by 239.2% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 181,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 127,689 shares during the period. 10.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sirius XM

Sirius XM Holdings Inc operates as an audio entertainment company in North America. It operates in two segments, Sirius XM, and Pandora and Off-platform. The company’s Sirius XM segment provides music, sports, entertainment, comedy, talk, news, traffic and weather channels, and other content, as well as podcast and infotainment services on subscription fee basis; and live, curated, and exclusive and on demand programming services through satellite radio systems and streamed through applications for mobile and home devices, and other consumer electronic equipment.