United Services Automobile Association Acquires New Stake in Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)

United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA – Get Rating) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 22,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $423,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ellevest Inc. acquired a new stake in Paramount Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Paramount Global during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Islay Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paramount Global during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Paramount Global during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, MUFG Americas Holdings Corp acquired a new stake in Paramount Global during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Macquarie cut shares of Paramount Global from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Paramount Global from $20.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Paramount Global from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Paramount Global from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paramount Global presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.86.

Paramount Global Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PARA opened at $19.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.23. Paramount Global has a one year low of $15.29 and a one year high of $39.21. The company’s fifty day moving average is $21.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.24.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.16 billion. Paramount Global had a return on equity of 5.03% and a net margin of 3.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Analysts forecast that Paramount Global will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paramount Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 17th. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.00%.

Paramount Global Company Profile

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Paramount Global operates as a mass media company, which creates and distributes content across a variety of platforms to audiences around the world. It operates its business through the following segments: Entertainment, Cable Networks, Publishing, and Local Media. The Entertainment segment is composed of the CBS Television Network, CBS Television Studios, CBS Studios International, CBS Television Distribution, CBS Interactive, and CBS Films, as well as the company’s digital streaming services, CBS All Access and CBSN.