Comcast Corporation $CMCSA Shares Sold by ARS Investment Partners LLC

ARS Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 31.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 125,418 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 56,524 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. United Financial Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 212.6% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,016 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Comcast

Here are the key news stories impacting Comcast this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Comcast declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, reinforcing its income appeal and signaling management confidence in cash flow. Comcast Declares Quarterly Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Comcast as one of the better-positioned names in a challenging cable industry, citing growing demand for high-speed internet and stronger media consumption as cord-cutting shifts the market toward broadband. 2 Stocks to Watch From a Challenging Cable Television Industry
• Positive Sentiment: Comcast continues expanding rural broadband access in Florida and Indiana through public-private partnerships, which supports long-term subscriber growth and reinforces the company’s core connectivity business. What Comcast (CMCSA)’s Dividend, Rural Broadband Push and Legal Settlement Means For Shareholders
• Neutral Sentiment: Comcast’s Sky unit is reportedly advancing talks to acquire ITV’s media and entertainment business, a deal that could be strategic but is still early and may require a performance-based payout structure. Comcast’s Sky advances talks to acquire ITV unit with performance-based payout, sources say
• Negative Sentiment: Investor sentiment remains weighed down by Comcast’s $117.5 million data-breach settlement, which keeps cybersecurity, legal liability, and reputation risks in focus. Comcast’s US$117.5m Breach Settlement Puts Data Security Risks In Focus
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes Comcast hit a new 12-month low after an analyst downgrade, underscoring ongoing concern about growth, competition, and margin pressure. Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Reaches New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.79.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $24.76 on Friday. Comcast Corporation has a 1-year low of $24.53 and a 1-year high of $36.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $28.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.45 billion, a PE ratio of 4.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.71.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The cable giant reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 15.00%.The firm had revenue of $31.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Comcast Corporation will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Comcast Company 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.