Comcast Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 33,811 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 74% compared to the average volume of 19,470 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Comcast by 98.3% in the second quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 44,251 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,839,000 after acquiring an additional 21,932 shares during the period. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 2nd quarter valued at $61,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,748 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,579,000. Finally, Westshore Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westshore Wealth LLC now owns 10,127 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. 82.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Comcast from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Comcast from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Comcast in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.88.

Comcast Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CMCSA traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $45.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,305,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,757,998. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.06. Comcast has a 1-year low of $28.39 and a 1-year high of $47.46. The firm has a market cap of $188.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The cable giant reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $30.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.11 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 19.79%. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Comcast will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.42%.

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, advertising sales, and Sky channels.