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

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 36,137 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 95% compared to the average daily volume of 18,530 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SIRI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Sirius XM in a research note on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Sirius XM in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Sirius XM from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore set a $28.00 price target on Sirius XM in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (up from $34.00) on shares of Sirius XM in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.82.

Insider Transactions at Sirius XM

In other Sirius XM news, insider Scott Andrew Greenstein sold 20,744 shares of Sirius XM stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sirius XM

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sirius XM by 158.5% during 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Sirius XM by 612.8% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC boosted its position in shares of Sirius XM by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 1,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sirius XM in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in shares of Sirius XM by 36.7% in the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. 10.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sirius XM Trading Up 4.4%

SIRI stock traded up $1.30 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $30.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,136,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,050,604. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a PE ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.95. Sirius XM has a 12-month low of $19.76 and a 12-month high of $32.66.

Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.08). Sirius XM had a return on equity of 9.37% and a net margin of 10.23%.The business had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sirius XM will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sirius XM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. Sirius XM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.20%.

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.