Comcast Corporation $CMCSA Stake Reduced by Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.

Key Points

• Capital Group Private Client Services cut its Comcast stake by 71.5% in Q3, selling 299,698 shares and leaving 119,415 shares valued at about $3.75 million.
• Comcast beat Q4 EPS estimates ($0.84 vs. $0.75) with revenue up 1.2% to $32.31 billion, trades at a low P/E of 5.79, and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.33 (annualized yield ~4.2%, DPR ~24.6%).
• Institutional investors own ~84.3% of Comcast; Vanguard increased its stake while CEO Michael Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares (an 8.52% decrease in his holdings), and analysts’ consensus is a Hold with an average target of $34.87.

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 71.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,415 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 299,698 shares during the quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 39.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,055,192 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $37,954,000 after acquiring an additional 300,898 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Comcast by 0.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 369,438,921 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $13,185,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257,196 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Comcast by 9.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,536,937 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $236,810,000 after purchasing an additional 665,635 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Comcast by 75.3% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 340,764 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $10,707,000 after purchasing an additional 146,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in Comcast by 3.5% during the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 952,154 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $29,917,000 after purchasing an additional 32,262 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $31.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Comcast Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.75 and a 1 year high of $37.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.10 and a 200-day moving average of $29.90.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The cable giant reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.09. Comcast had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 16.17%.The business had revenue of $32.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. Comcast's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CMCSA. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Arete Research set a $23.00 target price on Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Comcast from $37.50 to $35.25 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price target on Comcast from $38.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $33.00 price objective (up from $32.79) on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In related news, CEO Michael J. Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total value of $1,892,549.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 622,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,325,493.76. The trade was a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Comcast Company Profile

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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