Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Comcast Call Options (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 42,653 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 81% compared to the average daily volume of 23,509 call options.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA traded up $0.96 on Tuesday, reaching $36.35. The stock had a trading volume of 24,007,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,094,080. Comcast has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.67. The company has a market cap of $137.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 29.88%.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,219,000. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in Comcast by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 57,388 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 10,367 shares during the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,720 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. City National Bank of Florida MSD acquired a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $302,000. Finally, DCM Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. DCM Advisors LLC now owns 170,676 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $6,405,000 after purchasing an additional 8,663 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Comcast Company Profile

Comcast Corporation operates as a media and technology company worldwide. It operates through Residential Connectivity & Platforms, Business Services Connectivity, Media, Studios, and Theme Parks segments. The Residential Connectivity & Platforms segment provides residential broadband and wireless connectivity services, residential and business video services, sky-branded entertainment television networks, and advertising.