Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Trims Holdings in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC reduced its stake in Comcast Corporation by 68.4%, holding 22,715 shares worth approximately $838,000 after selling 49,224 shares in the first quarter.
• Comcast's stock has experienced fluctuating price targets from various analysts, with the average target now at $40.77, and a consensus rating described as "Hold."
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, representing a 4.1% annualized dividend yield, payable on October 22nd to stockholders of record as of October 1st.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management decreased its holdings in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 68.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 22,715 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 49,224 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Comcast were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 29.0% during the first quarter. American Financial Group Inc. now owns 267,000 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $9,852,000 after purchasing an additional 60,000 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.0% in the first quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 58,704 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $2,166,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,162,028 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $116,678,000 after purchasing an additional 142,169 shares in the last quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Comcast by 16.7% during the first quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 45,406 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 6,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its holdings in Comcast by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 7,793 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,355 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Comcast from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Moffett Nathanson lifted their target price on shares of Comcast from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated 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 given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.77.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.52. 22,392,993 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,535,802. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.92. 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 1 year low of $31.44 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $34.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.09.

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

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. Comcast's payout ratio is currently 21.82%.

Comcast Company 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.