Comcast Corporation $CMCSA Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,883,203 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,015 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $140,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $2,498,626,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 140,343,399 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,194,929,000 after acquiring an additional 24,166,881 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 65.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 55,664,933 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,663,825,000 after acquiring an additional 21,958,603 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 180,687,135 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $5,677,190,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 2,970.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,394,728 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $221,028,000 after acquiring an additional 7,153,895 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of CMCSA opened at $23.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $83.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.67. Comcast Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.13 and a 12-month high of $36.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $24.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The cable giant reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The company had revenue of $31.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. Comcast’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast Corporation will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

Key Comcast News

Here are the key news stories impacting Comcast this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Scotiabank lowered its price target on Comcast to $32.75 from $36 and kept a sector perform rating, signaling more cautious near-term expectations. Scotiabank cuts Comcast target
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target to $28 from $29 and maintained an underweight rating, suggesting the firm still sees limited upside. Wells Fargo view on Comcast
• Negative Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane cut its target to $22 from $25 and reiterated an underperform rating, adding to the bearish analyst sentiment around CMCSA. BNP Paribas Exane cuts Comcast target
• Negative Sentiment: Comcast agreed to a $117.5 million settlement over the Xfinity data breach, which adds legal, reputational, and governance overhangs for investors. Xfinity data breach settlement
• Negative Sentiment: Bernstein cut price targets across major telecom names, including Comcast, citing valuation risk tied to SpaceX/Starlink’s potential direct-to-consumer mobile plans. Bernstein cuts telecom targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Some recent commentary argues Comcast may be trading below fair value after a roughly 49% five-year slide, which could support a rebound if fundamentals stabilize. Fair value article
• Neutral Sentiment: One market update noted Comcast has recently outperformed the broader market, but the move appears modest and does not offset the more prominent analyst and legal concerns. Market performance article

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on CMCSA. New Street Research cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Comcast in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $36.00 to $32.75 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $35.50 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.64.

Comcast Profile

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is a diversified global media and technology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal operations are organized around Comcast Cable, which provides broadband internet, video, voice and wireless services to residential and business customers in the United States under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands, and NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment group that develops, produces and distributes content across broadcast and cable networks, film, and streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal’s assets include the NBC broadcast network, a portfolio of cable channels, Universal Pictures and other film and television production businesses, and the Peacock streaming service.