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

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 57,519 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 96% compared to the typical volume of 29,278 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price objective on Comcast from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Comcast from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Comcast from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Comcast from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.52.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 150.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 166,265 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $6,240,000 after acquiring an additional 99,986 shares during the last quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Comcast by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 83,883 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,593 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings in Comcast by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 42,216 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 4,290 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 119.4% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,974 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 9,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 66.8% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,607 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 15,865 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $22.69 on Thursday. Comcast has a 12-month low of $22.55 and a 12-month high of $36.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.05 and its 200 day moving average is $28.26. 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 stock has a market cap of $81.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

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.