Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 23,302 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 50% compared to the typical daily volume of 15,539 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PARA shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Paramount Global in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com raised Paramount Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Macquarie reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Paramount Global in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Paramount Global from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paramount Global presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.43.

Paramount Global Price Performance

PARA opened at $10.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.30, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.76. Paramount Global has a 12-month low of $9.54 and a 12-month high of $15.70.

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

Institutional Trading of Paramount Global

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 162.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its position in Paramount Global by 129.0% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Paramount Global in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Paramount Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake 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 valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 4,100 shares during the period. 73.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paramount Global Company Profile

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.