Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 53,500,000 shares, an increase of 7.0% from the December 31st total of 49,990,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 19,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 904.0% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $10,632,000 after buying an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after buying an additional 22,684 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 3.7% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $80,232,000 after purchasing an additional 68,139 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 0.7% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,541,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA traded down $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.07. 12,915,338 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,303,156. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.52 billion, a PE ratio of 7.97, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $38.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.02.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CMCSA shares. StockNews.com lowered Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research raised their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp raised their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

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.