Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Cuts Stake in Comcast Corporation $CMCSA

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its holdings in Comcast Corporation by 28.3%, now owning over 31 million shares valued at approximately $1.16 billion.
• Wall Street analysts have lowered their price targets for Comcast, with the average target now at $40.73, indicating a cautious outlook for the stock.
• Comcast announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, reflecting a yield of 3.9% and a payout ratio of 21.82%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its position in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 28.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,395,326 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 12,395,078 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.84% of Comcast worth $1,158,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 12.0% during 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 raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 42,479,501 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $1,594,256,000 after acquiring an additional 4,819,443 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 16.4% in the 4th 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 valued at $1,326,912,000 after acquiring an additional 4,991,891 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 33,636,264 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $1,240,955,000 after acquiring an additional 926,663 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 26,055,944 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $977,880,000 after acquiring an additional 497,829 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Argus cut shares of Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.50 to $45.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.73.

Comcast Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ CMCSA traded down $0.14 on Monday, hitting $34.01. 17,147,074 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,237,479. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Comcast Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $31.03 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. The company has a market cap of $125.57 billion, a PE ratio of 5.62, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.77.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The cable giant reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $30.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $29.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. Comcast's payout ratio is currently 21.82%.

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.