Wintrust Investments LLC Takes Position in Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)

Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 16,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PARA. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Paramount Global by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 54,882,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,224,418,000 after acquiring an additional 12,783,448 shares during the period. Contrarius Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 33.2% during the 2nd quarter. Contrarius Investment Management Ltd now owns 10,351,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,697,000 after buying an additional 2,579,501 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,333,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,459,000 after buying an additional 2,402,874 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Paramount Global during the 1st quarter worth about $41,174,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 98,053.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,603,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,517,000 after buying an additional 1,602,187 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PARA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Friday, October 6th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Paramount Global from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Paramount Global from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 20th. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Monday, September 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Paramount Global from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.72.

Paramount Global Price Performance

PARA stock opened at $13.19 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.50. The stock has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.76. Paramount Global has a 1 year low of $10.51 and a 1 year high of $25.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Paramount Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio is -11.24%.

About Paramount Global

Paramount Global operates as a media and entertainment company worldwide. The company operates through TV Media, Direct-to-Consumer, and Filmed Entertainment segments. Its TV Media segment operates domestic and international broadcast networks, including CBS Television Network, Network 10, Channel 5, Telefe, and Chilevisión; and cable networks comprising Paramount Media Networks, Nickelodeon, BET Media Group, and CBS Sports.