Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Position in Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its stake in shares of Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) by 85.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,215 shares of the company’s stock after selling 121,622 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Paramount Global were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PARA. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Paramount Global by 162.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,573 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Paramount Global during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Paramount Global during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 518.3% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paramount Global during the first quarter worth about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.00% of the company’s stock.

Paramount Global Stock Performance

Shares of PARA stock opened at $11.16 on Thursday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $9.54 and a fifty-two week high of $17.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.09. The company has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.36, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.74.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $6.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.94 billion. Paramount Global had a positive return on equity of 5.81% and a negative net margin of 18.89%. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Paramount Global will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Paramount Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently -2.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PARA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Paramount Global from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Paramount Global from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised Paramount Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Paramount Global from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $11.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paramount Global presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.40.

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.