Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) Short Interest Update

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,540,000 shares, an increase of 38.4% from the October 15th total of 16,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,750,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Approximately 6.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Sirius XM Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ SIRI traded down $1.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $25.80. The stock had a trading volume of 5,322,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,557,757. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sirius XM has a 1-year low of $22.18 and a 1-year high of $57.80. The company has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.07 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $25.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.06.

Sirius XM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Sirius XM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. Sirius XM’s payout ratio is currently -17.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on SIRI. Guggenheim lowered Sirius XM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Sirius XM from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Sirius XM from $37.50 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Sirius XM in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Sirius XM from $2.80 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sirius XM currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 1,259,259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.95 per share, with a total value of $31,418,512.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 108,719,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,712,541,245.60. This trade represents a 1.17 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 2,646,761 shares of company stock worth $65,952,329. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sirius XM

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Sirius XM by 239.2% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 181,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 127,689 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Sirius XM during the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Sirius XM during the first quarter worth approximately $322,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Sirius XM by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 1,051,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,174,000 after buying an additional 7,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Sirius XM by 1.1% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 579,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 6,231 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 10.69% of the company’s stock.

About Sirius XM

Sirius XM Holdings Inc operates as an audio entertainment company in North America. It operates in two segments, Sirius XM, and Pandora and Off-platform. The company’s Sirius XM segment provides music, sports, entertainment, comedy, talk, news, traffic and weather channels, and other content, as well as podcast and infotainment services on subscription fee basis; and live, curated, and exclusive and on demand programming services through satellite radio systems and streamed through applications for mobile and home devices, and other consumer electronic equipment.