Sirius XM Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:SIRI)

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 31,882 call options on the company. This is an increase of 92% compared to the typical daily volume of 16,617 call options.

Sirius XM Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ SIRI traded up $0.52 on Wednesday, reaching $30.06. 2,245,168 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,236,647. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $27.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.96. Sirius XM has a fifty-two week low of $19.76 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32.

Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Sirius XM had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 9.86%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Analysts forecast that Sirius XM will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Sirius XM Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Sirius XM’s payout ratio is 45.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sirius XM

In related news, insider Scott Andrew Greenstein sold 20,744 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,462.29. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sirius XM

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its holdings in shares of Sirius XM by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 124,807,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,904,886,000 after buying an additional 5,030,425 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in Sirius XM by 66.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 133,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,096,000 after acquiring an additional 53,019 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Sirius XM during the 4th quarter valued at about $622,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 117,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,859,872 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 10.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on SIRI. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and set a $22.00 target price (up from $19.00) on shares of Sirius XM in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barrington Research increased their target price on Sirius XM from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company 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. Weiss Ratings raised Sirius XM from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Sirius XM from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sirius XM has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.45.

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.