Independent Advisor Alliance Lowers Position in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Key Points

• Independent Advisor Alliance reduced its stake in Comcast by 21.0%, selling 19,896 shares, bringing its total holdings to 74,725 shares valued at approximately $2.76 million.
• Despite a decrease in stock price, Comcast recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33, which translates to an annual yield of 4.2%.
• Comcast's last quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with earnings per share of $1.25, compared to the estimated $1.18, alongside a revenue increase of 2.1% year-over-year.

Independent Advisor Alliance lowered its position in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 21.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 74,725 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 19,896 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings in Comcast were worth $2,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Comcast by 150.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 166,265 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $6,240,000 after buying an additional 99,986 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Comcast by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 345,592 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $12,990,000 after buying an additional 21,161 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its position in Comcast by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 9,086 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Comcast by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 37,900 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $1,422,000 after buying an additional 4,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position in Comcast by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 7,051 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup cut their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Comcast from $55.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Moffett Nathanson increased their target price on Comcast from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Comcast from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.73.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock traded up $0.84 on Wednesday, reaching $32.94. The stock had a trading volume of 29,733,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,008,912. The stock has a market cap of $121.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.92. Comcast Corporation has a 1 year low of $31.03 and a 1 year high of $45.31. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.85.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $30.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.81 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 18.44%. Comcast's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Comcast's payout ratio is 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.