Comcast Corporation $CMCSA Shares Sold by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its position in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 23.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 122,651 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 37,083 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth $2,498,626,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Comcast by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 140,343,399 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,194,929,000 after purchasing an additional 24,166,881 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Comcast by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 55,664,933 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,663,825,000 after purchasing an additional 21,958,603 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Comcast by 824.4% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,616,490 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $333,509,000 after buying an additional 10,359,800 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in Comcast by 4.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 180,687,135 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,677,190,000 after buying an additional 7,917,335 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $26.19 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.94 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.67. Comcast Corporation has a 12 month low of $21.28 and a 12 month high of $34.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.07. Comcast had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 8.97%.The company had revenue of $29.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Comcast Corporation will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 7th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. Comcast’s payout ratio is 42.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on CMCSA shares. Barclays set a $26.00 price target on Comcast and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Comcast in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $29.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $23.00 price target on shares of Comcast and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.96.

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.