Ascent Group LLC Has $1.44 Million Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Ascent Group LLC lowered its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 44.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,534 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 27,728 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,027 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 3.7% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $80,232,000 after purchasing an additional 68,139 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $92,331,000 after purchasing an additional 15,807 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Comcast by 3,816.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 558,382 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $21,866,000 after purchasing an additional 544,123 shares during the period. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP grew 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 buying an additional 2,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $42.86 on Wednesday. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average of $42.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.23. The stock has a market cap of $164.01 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.99.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.19.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other Comcast news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

About Comcast

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.