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

Key Points

• Sirius XM saw unusually heavy options activity on Friday, with investors buying 62,897 call options, about 265% above the normal volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Sirius XM currently has a Hold consensus rating, with an average price target of $28.00 even as several firms recently adjusted their targets and ratings.
• The stock recently traded near its 52-week high after a quarterly earnings beat and a 3.5% dividend yield, though one insider also sold a sizable block of shares.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 62,897 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 265% compared to the typical volume of 17,244 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of Sirius XM from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Sirius XM from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sirius XM from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Evercore set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Sirius XM in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barrington Research upped their price objective on shares of Sirius XM from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sirius XM currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Insider Transactions at Sirius XM

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sirius XM

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sirius XM during the fourth quarter worth approximately $622,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Sirius XM by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 339,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,902,000 after purchasing an additional 117,250 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Sirius XM by 858.4% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,076,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859,872 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sirius XM during the 4th quarter worth $57,124,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in Sirius XM by 82.8% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 191,161 shares of the company's stock worth $3,822,000 after purchasing an additional 86,614 shares during the last quarter. 10.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sirius XM Price Performance

NASDAQ SIRI traded down $0.63 on Friday, hitting $30.59. The company had a trading volume of 1,423,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,115,411. The company has a market capitalization of $10.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.95. The company's fifty day moving average price is $28.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Sirius XM has a 12-month low of $19.76 and a 12-month high of $31.42.

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

Sirius XM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Sirius XM's dividend payout ratio is 45.57%.

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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