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

Key Points

• Unusually heavy call options activity hit Sirius XM on Wednesday, with traders buying 31,882 call options — about 92% above the average daily volume.
• Insider Scott Andrew Greenstein sold 20,744 shares at an average price of $29.83, cutting his position by about 50.7% and generating roughly $618,794.
• Sirius XM shares rose 1.7% to $30.06, near their 52-week high, while the company also reported earnings and revenue that beat analyst expectations and pays a quarterly dividend yielding 3.6%.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 31,882 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 92% compared to the average daily volume of 16,617 call options.

Insider Transactions at Sirius XM

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sirius XM

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in Sirius XM by 158.5% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,295 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sirius XM by 612.8% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC boosted its stake in shares of Sirius XM by 57.7% during the fourth quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 1,621 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Sirius XM in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its holdings in Sirius XM by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,553 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. 10.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sirius XM Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:SIRI traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.06. 2,245,168 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,236,647. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.96. The firm's fifty day moving average is $27.64 and its 200-day moving average is $23.80. Sirius XM has a 12-month low of $19.76 and a 12-month high of $30.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sirius XM will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Sirius XM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Sirius XM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SIRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Sirius XM from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Sirius XM from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barrington Research lifted their price objective on Sirius XM from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Sirius XM in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Sirius XM from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.45.

About Sirius XM

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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