Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by Costello Asset Management INC

Costello Asset Management INC trimmed its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 14.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,676 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 2,700 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,027 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 8.9% in the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 191,846 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,513,000 after buying an additional 15,664 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 15,807 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 3,816.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 558,382 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $21,866,000 after acquiring an additional 544,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the 1st quarter worth $773,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $43.91 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.71. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The firm has a market cap of $168.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.75.

About Comcast

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.