Comcast Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 147,928 call options on the company. This is an increase of 370% compared to the average volume of 31,467 call options.

Comcast Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:CMCSA traded down $0.03 on Thursday, reaching $24.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,874,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,130,902. Comcast has a 12-month low of $24.53 and a 12-month high of $36.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $88.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.66.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The cable giant reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 15.00%.The company had revenue of $31.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 75.5% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 932 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, United Financial Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore boosted their price objective on Comcast from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. New Street Research lowered their price objective on Comcast from $36.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Comcast from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised Comcast from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Comcast to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.79.

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is a diversified global media and technology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal operations are organized around Comcast Cable, which provides broadband internet, video, voice and wireless services to residential and business customers in the United States under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands, and NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment group that develops, produces and distributes content across broadcast and cable networks, film, and streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal’s assets include the NBC broadcast network, a portfolio of cable channels, Universal Pictures and other film and television production businesses, and the Peacock streaming service.