Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Position Lessened by Simmons Bank

Simmons Bank cut its holdings in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 75.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,174 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 63,626 shares during the period. Simmons Bank's holdings in Comcast were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Comcast by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $5,317,167,000 after buying an additional 11,255,683 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,835,226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $3,212,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,272 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in Comcast by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 79,102,667 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $2,968,723,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Comcast by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 50,320,446 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,890,027,000 after purchasing an additional 5,402,377 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CMCSA. Scotiabank reiterated 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Comcast from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $37.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.96.

Comcast Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:CMCSA traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.93. 10,160,934 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,060,166. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $34.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.50. The firm has a market cap of $134.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.95. Comcast Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $31.44 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The cable giant reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.82 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 12.72%. Comcast's revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd will be paid 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 3.67%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.43%.

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.