ING Groep NV Reduces Stock Position in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV reduced its stake in Comcast Corporation by 19.8%, holding 1,384,596 shares valued at $51.09 million after selling 341,111 shares in the first quarter.
• Comcast reported better-than-expected earnings with $1.25 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' predictions of $1.18 and achieving a revenue of $30.31 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, which will be paid on October 22nd, representing an annualized dividend of $1.32 and a yield of 4.1%.

ING Groep NV cut its holdings in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 19.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,384,596 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 341,111 shares during the period. ING Groep NV's holdings in Comcast were worth $51,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Sculati Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,792 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 15,539 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 9.0% in the first quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 3,630 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 0.6% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 54,163 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.7% in the first quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 18,706 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CMCSA. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Comcast from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $55.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.73.

Comcast Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of CMCSA traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.16. The company had a trading volume of 21,557,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,987,228. Comcast Corporation has a 1-year low of $31.44 and a 1-year high of $45.31. The stock has a market cap of $120.08 billion, a PE ratio of 5.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.05. 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 (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The cable giant reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $30.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.81 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

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