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

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 53,179 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 303% compared to the average daily volume of 13,199 call options.

Sirius XM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SIRI traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,863,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,304,273. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.13. The company has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of 7.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.93. Sirius XM has a 1 year low of $18.69 and a 1 year high of $27.41.

Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.05. Sirius XM had a return on equity of 8.79% and a net margin of 11.61%.The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($8.74) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sirius XM will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SIRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Sirius XM in a report on Monday, December 1st. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Sirius XM in a report on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Sirius XM from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Sirius XM in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (up from $28.00) on shares of Sirius XM in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sirius XM presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.29.

Insider Activity at Sirius XM

In other news, Director Kristina Salen sold 1,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.64, for a total value of $39,925.80. Following the sale, the director owned 19,969 shares in the company, valued at $432,129.16. This represents a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SIRI. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Sirius XM in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sirius XM by 214.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 3,001 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Sirius XM by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Sirius XM by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Sirius XM in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 10.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.