Comcast Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 57,519 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 96% compared to the average daily volume of 29,278 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Comcast from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Comcast to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Comcast from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Comcast from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.52.

Comcast Stock Down 1.3%

Comcast stock traded down $0.32 on Tuesday, hitting $23.65. 7,160,812 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,623,855. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $84.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.31. Comcast has a 1 year low of $23.13 and a 1 year high of $36.66.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The cable giant reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $31.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.42 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 15.00%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

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

Comcast Company Profile

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.