Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 57.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 133,800 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 183,800 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $5,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Secure Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $246,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 150.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 166,265 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $6,240,000 after buying an additional 99,986 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 129,577 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $4,863,000 after buying an additional 6,241 shares during the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its stake in Comcast by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 3,330 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 39,026 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 3,312 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $44.50 price target (down previously from $45.00) on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on Comcast in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.10.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $34.57. 31,649,902 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,989,998. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.79. The company has a market cap of $129.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.33, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.97. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $31.44 and a 1 year high of $45.31.

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

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.