Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Short Interest Update

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 61,280,000 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the October 15th total of 57,790,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 17,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CMCSA. StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective 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. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.88.

Comcast Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $43.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,100,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,621,865. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Comcast has a 1 year low of $36.43 and a 1 year high of $47.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Comcast in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 204.7% during the 2nd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 365.4% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.