Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Short Interest Update

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CMCSA. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays raised their target price on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.33.

Insider Activity at Comcast

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

Institutional Trading of Comcast

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,584 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,277,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC increased its position in Comcast by 2.9% during the third quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,445 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,829 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. increased its stake in Comcast by 2.0% in the third quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 13,554 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $36.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,859,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,748,178. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $139.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.19. Comcast has a 12 month low of $36.15 and a 12 month high of $47.11.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

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.