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

Key Points

• Investors bought 53,179 call options on SIRI Wednesday — a 303% increase versus the average volume of 13,199 calls, indicating unusually heavy bullish options activity.
• Director Kristina Salen sold 1,845 shares (an 8.46% reduction); insiders now own 0.79% of the company while institutional investors/hedge funds hold about 10.69%.
• Sirius XM beat the latest quarter with $0.84 EPS vs. $0.79 expected and $2.16B revenue, and analysts carry a consensus "Hold" rating with an average price target of $24.29.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 53,179 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 303% compared to the average volume of 13,199 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kristina Salen sold 1,845 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.64, for a total value of $39,925.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $432,129.16. The trade was a 8.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sirius XM

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SIRI. Unified Investment Management grew its position in Sirius XM by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 30,407 shares of the company's stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Sirius XM by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,836 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Sirius XM by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sirius XM by 6.5% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Sirius XM by 1.1% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 59,982 shares of the company's stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SIRI has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Sirius XM in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Sirius XM in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Sirius XM in a report on Monday, December 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Sirius XM from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $30.00 price objective (up previously from $28.00) on shares of Sirius XM in a report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $24.29.

Sirius XM Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of SIRI traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $20.22. The company had a trading volume of 1,863,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,304,273. The company's fifty day moving average price is $21.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.13. Sirius XM has a one year low of $18.69 and a one year high of $27.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of 7.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.93.

Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.14 billion. Sirius XM had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 8.79%. The company's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($8.74) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sirius XM will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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