Comcast Corporation $CMCSA Stock: Alps Advisors Inc. Trims Stake

Key Points

• Alps Advisors cut its Comcast stake by 15.2% in the third quarter, selling 267,519 shares and retaining 1,492,875 shares valued at about $32.5 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: 10 analysts rate the stock Buy, 11 Hold and 6 Sell, for an overall Hold consensus and an average price target of $28.77.
• Comcast beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $1.07 per share and $29.30 billion in revenue, though revenue fell 6.1% year over year. It also declared a $0.33 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 5.4% yield at the quoted share price.

Alps Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 15.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,492,875 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 267,519 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $32,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 48.2% during the first quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,196 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 75.5% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 932 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Bollard Group LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 37,607 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 5.7% in the second quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 8,595 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 7,375 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $26.00 price objective on Comcast and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Comcast from $30.00 to $27.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Comcast from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $23.00 price target on Comcast and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down from $37.00) on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.77.

Comcast Stock Performance

Comcast stock opened at $24.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $86.61 billion, a PE ratio of 6.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.72. The company's 50-day moving average price is $23.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.99. Comcast Corporation has a twelve month low of $20.48 and a twelve month high of $32.85.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The cable giant reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $29.22 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 14.64% and a net margin of 9.20%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Corporation will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 6th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 6th. Comcast's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.77%.

Comcast Company Profile

Comcast Corporation is a media and telecommunications company whose businesses include broadband, cable television, wireless and voice services, as well as entertainment, news and theme parks. Its Xfinity brand offers residential and business connectivity and entertainment services in the United States.

Through NBCUniversal, Comcast operates the NBC broadcast network, cable channels, the Peacock streaming service, Universal Pictures and Universal theme parks. The company also owns Sky, which provides television, broadband and related services in the United Kingdom and other European markets.

Comcast traces its roots to a cable television business founded in 1963 as American Cable Systems.

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