BNP Paribas Cuts Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

BNP Paribas trimmed its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 102,938 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 17,607 shares during the period. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Comcast were worth $4,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 204.7% in the 2nd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Comcast by 365.4% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp increased its stake in Comcast by 177.1% during the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 812 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $42.64 on Wednesday. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.11. The firm has a market cap of $163.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.19.

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.