Blair William & Co. IL Decreases Stock Holdings in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in Comcast by 24.4%, owning 264,453 shares worth approximately $9.76 million after selling 85,530 shares in the first quarter.
• Comcast reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for its last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.18, with revenue of $30.31 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33, set to be paid on October 22nd, which represents an annualized yield of 4.1%.

Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its position in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 24.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 264,453 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 85,530 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Comcast were worth $9,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $5,317,167,000 after acquiring an additional 11,255,683 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in Comcast by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 79,102,667 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $2,968,723,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,823 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 50,320,446 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,890,027,000 after purchasing an additional 5,402,377 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 42,479,501 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,594,256,000 after purchasing an additional 4,819,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 35,356,027 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,326,912,000 after purchasing an additional 4,991,891 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CMCSA. Arete Research raised shares of Comcast to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Comcast from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $35.00 in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, July 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.73.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA remained flat at $31.67 during mid-day trading on Friday. 16,091,644 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,820,288. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $34.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.99. 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 firm has a market cap of $116.93 billion, a PE ratio of 5.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.92. Comcast Corporation has a 12-month low of $31.44 and a 12-month high of $45.31.

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

Comcast Announces Dividend

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

Comcast 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, sky-branded entertainment television networks, and advertising.