Granite Group Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Granite Group Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 54,084 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 620 shares during the quarter. Comcast makes up 1.5% of Granite Group Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Granite Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the first quarter worth $436,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in Comcast by 111.7% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 53,442 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after acquiring an additional 28,198 shares in the last quarter. PFG Advisors raised its holdings in Comcast by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 27,686 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after acquiring an additional 4,613 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Comcast by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 611,965 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,529,000 after purchasing an additional 24,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 1,200,028 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $52,021,000 after purchasing an additional 192,100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CMCSA shares. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.75.

Comcast Stock Down 0.9 %

Comcast stock traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $43.78. 2,351,502 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,638,330. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.00 and a 200-day moving average of $39.66. The company has a market cap of $169.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released 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 return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Comcast’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.33%.

Comcast 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.