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

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 72,704 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 50% compared to the typical daily volume of 48,349 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Comcast from $38.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Comcast from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group set a $37.00 target price on Comcast in a research report on Monday. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Comcast from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.05.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $29.06. The stock had a trading volume of 40,303,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,709,707. Comcast has a 52-week low of $25.75 and a 52-week high of $38.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.01. The company has a market cap of $105.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.81.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 13th. The cable giant reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $30.34 billion during the quarter. Comcast had a net margin of 18.33% and a return on equity of 18.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 14th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Robinson Value Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Comcast by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 106,546 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,185,000 after buying an additional 6,366 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 958,350 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $28,645,000 after purchasing an additional 23,005 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its position in Comcast by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 249,554 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,080,000 after purchasing an additional 59,553 shares during the last quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. now owns 26,923 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 8,554 shares during the period. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB boosted its holdings in Comcast by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 164,651 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,921,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.