Earnest Partners LLC Sells 302 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,251 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 152,156 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $6,672,000 after purchasing an additional 42,309 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 49,672 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,140,000 after acquiring an additional 2,434 shares in the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,695 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 7,102 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 23,073 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 5,159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.74. 3,045,455 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,420,357. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $36.43 and a 12 month high of $47.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $38.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Comcast had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The firm had revenue of $29.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CMCSA. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $47.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Comcast from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.01.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comcast news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total transaction of $10,134,384.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,380,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.