Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) Rating Increased to Hold at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo upgraded Sirius XM from “strong sell” to “hold,” aligning with the broader analyst consensus of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.09.
• Sirius XM shares opened at $31.22, up 4.8%, near their 52-week high of $31.49. The company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.72 and revenue of $2.09 billion.
• Institutional investors increased their positions, while insider Scott Greenstein sold 20,744 shares. Institutional investors own 10.69% of Sirius XM, compared with 3.27% held by insiders.

Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings raised Sirius XM from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Barrington Research increased their price objective on Sirius XM from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating on shares of Sirius XM in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Sirius XM from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $22.00 price target (up from $19.00) on shares of Sirius XM in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sirius XM has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.09.

Sirius XM Stock Up 4.8%

Sirius XM stock opened at $31.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.44. Sirius XM has a one year low of $19.76 and a one year high of $31.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.95.

Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. Sirius XM had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 9.19%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Sirius XM's revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sirius XM will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sirius XM news, insider Scott Andrew Greenstein sold 20,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $618,793.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $601,462.29. This trade represents a 50.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sirius XM

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SIRI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Sirius XM by 262.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,301,181 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,426,000 after buying an additional 4,560,821 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Sirius XM by 165.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,191,440 shares of the company's stock worth $117,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,233,922 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Sirius XM by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,487,415 shares of the company's stock worth $69,731,000 after acquiring an additional 25,906 shares in the last quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA lifted its holdings in Sirius XM by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA now owns 2,942,595 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,915,000 after acquiring an additional 59,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sirius XM in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,124,000. Institutional investors own 10.69% of the company's stock.

Sirius XM Company Profile

Sirius XM Holdings Inc is a leading audio entertainment company specializing in subscription-based satellite and streaming radio services. Formed in 2008 through the merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, the company delivers a broad range of programming across music, sports, news, talk and comedy channels. Sirius XM's offerings include exclusive live sports play-by-play, artist-curated music channels, news coverage from major networks and original talk and entertainment series.

Headquartered in New York City, Sirius XM serves listeners throughout the United States and Canada, reaching tens of millions of subscribers.

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