Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI)

Key Points

• Sirius XM call-option activity surged: Traders purchased 76,364 call options, 273% above the average volume of 20,453 contracts.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and a $32.15 price target; recent actions included both upgrades and downgrades.
• The stock opened at $26.28, while the company reported quarterly revenue of $2.16 billion but missed earnings expectations. Sirius XM also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.27, equivalent to a 4.1% annualized yield.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 76,364 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 273% compared to the average volume of 20,453 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Sirius XM to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. William Blair raised shares of Sirius XM to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sirius XM from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Sirius XM in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Sirius XM in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.15.

Sirius XM Price Performance

NASDAQ SIRI opened at $26.28 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.95. Sirius XM has a 52 week low of $19.76 and a 52 week high of $32.66. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $29.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.41.

Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.14 billion. Sirius XM had a return on equity of 9.37% and a net margin of 10.23%.Sirius XM's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. Research analysts predict that Sirius XM will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Sirius XM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Sirius XM's payout ratio is currently 43.20%.

Insider Activity at Sirius XM

In related news, Director Jonelle Procope sold 16,672 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.97, for a total value of $499,659.84. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $550,069.38. The trade was a 47.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sirius XM

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SIRI. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sirius XM during the 2nd quarter valued at $224,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Sirius XM by 68.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,992,497 shares of the company's stock valued at $177,018,000 after buying an additional 2,444,881 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Sirius XM by 250.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 212,389 shares of the company's stock worth $6,274,000 after buying an additional 151,747 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Sirius XM by 23.5% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,736 shares of the company's stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 4,523 shares during the period. Finally, BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in Sirius XM during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,477,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 10.69% of the company's stock.

About Sirius XM

Sirius XM Holdings Inc provides subscription-based audio entertainment and information services in the United States and Canada. Its SiriusXM service delivers commercial-free music, sports, news, talk and entertainment programming through satellite radio and internet streaming, including its mobile app and connected-vehicle platforms.

The company offers a broad range of exclusive and licensed content, including live sports coverage, original talk and comedy programs, news services, podcasts, and music channels organized by genre and artist.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.