Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Trims Stake in Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,216,817 shares of the company’s stock after selling 82,981 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Paramount Global were worth $195,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Paramount Global by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Financial Group Inc. now owns 382,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,656,000 after acquiring an additional 112,292 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Paramount Global during the 4th quarter valued at about $296,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Paramount Global by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 28,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Paramount Global by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 13,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carson Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paramount Global by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 49,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 4,603 shares during the period. 73.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic lowered Paramount Global from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded Paramount Global from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Paramount Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Paramount Global from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Paramount Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.58.

Paramount Global Stock Performance

Shares of Paramount Global stock opened at $13.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a PE ratio of -87.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.91. Paramount Global has a one year low of $10.12 and a one year high of $17.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.28. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that Paramount Global will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paramount Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently -133.33%.

Paramount Global 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.