Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $1.82 Million Stake in Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its position in Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) by 14.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 154,783 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,475 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Paramount Global were worth $1,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PARA. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 559,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,585,000 after acquiring an additional 9,633 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Paramount Global in the 1st quarter valued at $2,325,000. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 43,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 14,039 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 130,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hedges Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 35,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Paramount Global from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus lowered shares of Paramount Global from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Paramount Global in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Paramount Global from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Paramount Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.29.

Paramount Global Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PARA traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $11.49. The company had a trading volume of 8,790,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,878,023. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $11.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -76.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.78. Paramount Global has a 52-week low of $9.54 and a 52-week high of $17.50.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $7.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.73 billion. Paramount Global had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 3.35%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paramount Global will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paramount Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -133.32%.

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.