Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,156,427 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 150,474 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $48,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 92.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,722,620 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $339,223,000 after purchasing an additional 4,182,525 shares during the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Comcast during the first quarter worth about $102,119,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 1st quarter valued at about $93,051,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in Comcast by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 9,500,000 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $372,020,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 211.7% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,890,571 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $120,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,246 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $43.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.43 and a fifty-two week high of $47.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.04.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upgraded Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.19.

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.