Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 49,045 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 120% compared to the average daily volume of 22,263 put options.

Comcast Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ CMCSA traded down $0.43 on Wednesday, hitting $39.72. 20,507,001 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,578,465. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.97. Comcast has a fifty-two week low of $36.38 and a fifty-two week high of $47.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $157.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $31.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.41 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 19.75%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CMCSA. Pivotal Research upped their target price on shares of Comcast from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total transaction of $5,289,928.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in Comcast by 2.4% during the first quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 15,458 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its holdings in Comcast by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 37,271 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after acquiring an additional 5,532 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,063,697 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $190,261,000 after acquiring an additional 928,627 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Comcast by 104.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,472 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Comcast in the 1st quarter valued at about $482,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Company Profile

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.