Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 42,653 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 81% compared to the average volume of 23,509 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,835,226,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $743,681,000. Amundi increased its stake in Comcast by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $895,499,000 after acquiring an additional 14,369,056 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Comcast by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $5,317,167,000 after purchasing an additional 11,255,683 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $345,565,000 after purchasing an additional 8,258,128 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,402,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,761,117. Comcast has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The company has a market cap of $137.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $36.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.58.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on CMCSA shares. Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays reduced their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.13.

About Comcast

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.