Ariel Investments LLC Increases Position in Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)

Ariel Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) by 16.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,042,265 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,992,576 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC’s holdings in Paramount Global were worth $145,899,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paramount Global by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,090,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $730,805,000 after acquiring an additional 3,803,928 shares during the period. Lingotto Investment Management LLP increased its stake in Paramount Global by 628.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 29,937,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,046,000 after purchasing an additional 25,829,185 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Paramount Global by 9.2% during the first quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP now owns 6,264,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,732,000 after purchasing an additional 527,897 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Paramount Global by 6.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,724,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,698,000 after purchasing an additional 225,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Paramount Global in the first quarter valued at $33,191,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Paramount Global from $13.00 to $11.50 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Guggenheim cut their target price 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. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Paramount Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Paramount Global from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $10.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Ten equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.18.

Paramount Global Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PARA opened at $10.55 on Thursday. Paramount Global has a 12-month low of $9.54 and a 12-month high of $17.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $10.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -70.33, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.75.

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

Paramount Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 1.90%. Paramount Global’s payout ratio is -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.