Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Paramount Skydance Call Options (NASDAQ:PSKY)

Key Points

• Investors purchased 31,086 call options on Paramount Skydance on Friday, about a 42% increase versus typical daily call volume, indicating unusually high bullish options activity.
• Analysts' consensus is a Strong Sell with an average price target of $13.00; overall ratings include 1 Buy, 5 Hold and 9 Sell, and several firms recently lowered targets or issued negative ratings.
• Large institutions (Vanguard, State Street, Invesco, Barclays, Contrarius) added sizable positions and hedge funds own roughly 73% of the stock; PSKY traded at $9.01 (up 0.5%) and the company announced a $0.05 quarterly dividend (2.2% yield, ex-dividend March 16).

Paramount Skydance Corporation (NASDAQ:PSKY - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 31,086 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 42% compared to the typical daily volume of 21,957 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Paramount Skydance in a report on Monday, March 9th. They set a "strong sell" rating and a $10.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Paramount Skydance from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Paramount Skydance from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Paramount Skydance from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Paramount Skydance from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and nine have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Paramount Skydance has a consensus rating of "Strong Sell" and an average target price of $13.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paramount Skydance

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in Paramount Skydance during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $678,726,000. State Street Corp bought a new position in shares of Paramount Skydance during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $524,371,000. Invesco Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Paramount Skydance during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $288,551,000. Barclays PLC purchased a new position in shares of Paramount Skydance in the third quarter valued at $258,196,000. Finally, Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Paramount Skydance in the third quarter valued at $186,674,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.00% of the company's stock.

Paramount Skydance Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:PSKY traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $9.01. 3,805,439 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,327,304. Paramount Skydance has a 1 year low of $8.61 and a 1 year high of $20.86. The business's 50-day moving average price is $11.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ:PSKY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $999.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $999.02. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.17 billion. Paramount Skydance had a positive return on equity of 3.82% and a negative net margin of 2.15%.

Paramount Skydance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Paramount Skydance's payout ratio is presently 31.75%.

About Paramount Skydance

Paramount Skydance Media Group Nasdaq: PSKY is a media and entertainment company created through the proposed combination of Paramount Global’s filmed entertainment and streaming operations with Skydance Media, a privately held content studio. The combined business will encompass the development, production and distribution of feature films, television programming and digital content, drawing on a library of legacy Paramount Pictures franchises alongside Skydance’s blockbuster tentpoles and animation slate.

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