Searle & CO. Lowers Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Searle & CO. cut its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 70.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,130 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 16,740 shares during the period. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 25,881.7% during the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 10,850,995 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $470,391,000 after purchasing an additional 10,809,231 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Comcast by 41.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,016,389 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,214,512,000 after buying an additional 8,243,302 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 7.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 115,703,280 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $5,015,737,000 after buying an additional 7,929,963 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 80.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,542,253 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $457,007,000 after buying an additional 4,714,586 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 92.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,722,620 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $339,223,000 after acquiring an additional 4,182,525 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.50. 2,850,262 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,487,598. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $29.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.02 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CMCSA shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on Comcast from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Comcast from $47.25 to $47.75 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.58.

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.