BNP Paribas Trims Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

BNP Paribas lessened its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 14.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,938 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 17,607 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Comcast were worth $4,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Comcast by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,027 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in shares of Comcast by 8.9% during the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 191,846 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,513,000 after acquiring an additional 15,664 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $80,232,000 after acquiring an additional 68,139 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $92,331,000 after purchasing an additional 15,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 3,816.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 558,382 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $21,866,000 after purchasing an additional 544,123 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $42.64 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $36.43 and a 12 month high of $47.11. The stock has a market cap of $163.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid 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 2.91%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Comcast from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie increased their target price on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently 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.