Fermata Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Fermata Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 27.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,598 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 2,167 shares during the quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Comcast by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,317,167,000 after buying an additional 11,255,683 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $3,835,226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,212,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,272 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 79,102,667 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,968,723,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,823 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 50,320,446 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,890,027,000 after purchasing an additional 5,402,377 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $34.22 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $31.44 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.48.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The cable giant reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. The company had revenue of $29.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $44.50 price objective (down from $45.00) on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. BNP Paribas lowered Comcast from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $37.00 target price on Comcast in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.10.

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.