Park Avenue Securities LLC Reduces Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lowered its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 19.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,858 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 20,107 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Comcast were worth $3,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sculati Wealth Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Comcast by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 26,470 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $993,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 2.0% during the 4th 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. Cypress Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 1.7% during the first quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 18,706 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 3.3% in the first quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 10,112 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the topic of several research reports. Argus lowered Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $55.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $44.50 price target (down from $45.00) on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Comcast from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.10.

Comcast Trading Up 0.4%

Comcast stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $35.32. 6,240,808 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,017,120. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.87 billion, a PE ratio of 8.51, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $34.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.26. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $31.44 and a twelve month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The cable giant reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $29.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.82 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. Research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. Comcast's payout ratio is 32.43%.

About Comcast

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.