Comcast Corporation $CMCSA Shares Acquired by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 219,579 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,635 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Comcast were worth $4,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 10.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 40,864,921 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,173,232,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783,234 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Comcast by 1.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,461,308 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $845,919,000 after buying an additional 507,097 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Comcast by 4.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,592,149 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $390,231,000 after buying an additional 630,902 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Comcast by 824.4% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,616,490 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $333,509,000 after buying an additional 10,359,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Comcast by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 10,666,200 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $306,227,000 after buying an additional 574,300 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Price Performance

Comcast stock opened at $24.80 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.90. The company has a market capitalization of $88.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.72. Comcast Corporation has a 1 year low of $20.48 and a 1 year high of $32.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The cable giant reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Comcast Corporation will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 6th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 41.77%.

Trending Headlines about Comcast

These are some of the CMCSA headlines that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: A valuation analysis argues Comcast could be trading about 43% below fair value, with job cuts part of the context for its assessment. This points to potential upside if investors gain confidence in the company’s cost and growth outlook. Comcast (CMCSA) Stock Could Be 43% Below Fair Value After Job Cuts
• Positive Sentiment: A bullish investor thesis sees a post-Versant reset and stabilizing broadband trends as possible drivers of a valuation re-rating. It also frames Comcast as inexpensive relative to peers, but this is an investor thesis rather than a company announcement. Comcast vs. CHTR and VZ: Can the Post-Versant Reset and Broadband Stabilization Drive a Re-Rating?
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street analysts reportedly rate the stock “Hold,” reflecting a wait-and-see stance rather than a clear consensus on near-term upside. Comcast Stock Now Rated Hold by Wall Street Analysts

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CMCSA. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Freedom Broker cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.77.

Comcast Company Profile

Comcast Corporation is a media and telecommunications company whose businesses include broadband, cable television, wireless and voice services, as well as entertainment, news and theme parks. Its Xfinity brand offers residential and business connectivity and entertainment services in the United States. Through NBCUniversal, Comcast operates the NBC broadcast network, cable channels, the Peacock streaming service, Universal Pictures and Universal theme parks. The company also owns Sky, which provides television, broadband and related services in the United Kingdom and other European markets.