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

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 42,653 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 81% compared to the average volume of 23,509 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

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

Institutional Trading of Comcast

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 832,594 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,810,000 after acquiring an additional 132,442 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Comcast by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,040,565 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $43,464,000 after buying an additional 58,785 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC grew its position in Comcast by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 23,226 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $970,000 after buying an additional 1,177 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Comcast by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 19,659 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $821,000 after buying an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Comcast by 33.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,099 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.35 on Wednesday. Comcast has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $137.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $36.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.67.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

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.