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

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 40,917 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 124% compared to the typical daily volume of 18,235 call options.

Comcast Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.42. 7,019,862 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,917,594. Comcast has a 52-week low of $36.15 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.17 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 904.0% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 15.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,161,000 after buying an additional 22,684 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 3.7% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $80,232,000 after buying an additional 68,139 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 0.7% during the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $92,331,000 after buying an additional 15,807 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the third quarter worth approximately $2,541,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank raised Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.33.

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.