Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,194 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 45,821 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,027 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its stake in Comcast by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 191,846 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,513,000 after acquiring an additional 15,664 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 0.7% in the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $92,331,000 after purchasing an additional 15,807 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 3,816.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 558,382 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $21,866,000 after purchasing an additional 544,123 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Comcast in the first quarter worth about $773,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $43.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,779,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,597,115. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.58. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $36.43 and a 12-month high of $47.11. The company has a market capitalization of $166.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Scotiabank raised Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.75.

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.