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

Key Points

• Comcast put-option activity surged: Investors purchased 65,087 put options, about 62% above the average volume, signaling increased options-market interest in downside protection or bearish positioning.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Comcast has a consensus “Hold” rating from analysts, with 11 Buys, 13 Holds and 4 Sells, and an average price target of $32.96 versus its reported trading price of $25.41.
• Quarterly results beat expectations, but revenue declined: Comcast reported $1.04 in earnings per share versus the $0.97 estimate and $29.94 billion in revenue, although revenue fell 1.2% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33, representing a 5.2% annualized yield.

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 65,087 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 62% compared to the average volume of 40,183 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CMCSA. Evercore lifted their price objective on Comcast from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Scotiabank set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Comcast in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.96.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Comcast during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 75.5% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 932 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in Comcast in the first quarter worth $27,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $25.41. The stock had a trading volume of 5,688,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,412,906. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Comcast has a one year low of $21.28 and a one year high of $34.45.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.07. Comcast had a net margin of 8.97% and a return on equity of 14.77%. The firm had revenue of $29.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Comcast will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 7th. Comcast's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.72%.

About Comcast

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.

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