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

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 25,996 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 21% compared to the average daily volume of 21,569 call options.

Comcast Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $38.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $150.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $47.46. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $30.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.83 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 12.64%. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total value of $10,134,384.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,380,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Luken Investment Analytics LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 258.0% in the 1st quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 580 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Steph & Co. raised its stake in Comcast by 154.6% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 611 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its position in Comcast by 299.1% during the 4th quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 634,727 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 475,675 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A bought a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, April 26th. BNP Paribas downgraded Comcast from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $47.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.83.

About Comcast

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.