Highland Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Highland Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 200,805 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 19,945 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $8,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Comcast by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 115,703,280 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $5,015,737,000 after acquiring an additional 7,929,963 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Comcast by 2.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 38,329,384 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,500,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,626 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Comcast by 41.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its position 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 buying an additional 10,809,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Pacific Advisors LP grew its stake in Comcast by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 10,818,009 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $423,633,000 after acquiring an additional 219,894 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $41.66 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $36.43 and a 1-year high of $47.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.47. The stock has a market cap of $163.46 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02, 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 current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 12.46%. Comcast’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CMCSA shares. Pivotal Research reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on Comcast from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Comcast from $47.25 to $47.75 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.58.

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.