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

Key Points

• On Thursday, Comcast experienced unusual options trading activity with a significant increase of 41% in put options, totaling 31,678 contracts compared to the average volume of 22,512.
• Comcast reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.25, exceeding analyst estimates by $0.07, alongside a revenue of $30.31 billion for the quarter, reflecting a 2.1% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.32, which represents a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is set for October 1st.

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 31,678 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 41% compared to the average daily volume of 22,512 put options.

Comcast Stock Performance

Comcast stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.59. 53,783,241 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,130,610. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $33.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.47. Comcast has a 12-month low of $31.03 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $116.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.93.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The cable giant reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $30.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.81 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The business's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,528,361,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 1st quarter worth approximately $940,015,000. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in Comcast by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 111,272,320 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $3,971,309,000 after purchasing an additional 17,054,579 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Comcast by 1,959.3% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,228,732 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $488,140,000 after buying an additional 12,586,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Comcast by 724.7% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,160,649 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $374,927,000 after buying an additional 8,928,641 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on CMCSA. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on shares of Comcast from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Comcast from $44.50 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Arete Research upgraded shares of Comcast to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.56.

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.