Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 6.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 464,343 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 33,319 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $18,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 107,773,317 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,725,926,000 after purchasing an additional 15,625,543 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in Comcast by 25,881.7% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 10,850,995 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $470,391,000 after acquiring an additional 10,809,231 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in 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 worth $1,214,512,000 after acquiring an additional 8,243,302 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 80.9% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,542,253 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $457,007,000 after acquiring an additional 4,714,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 116.8% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 5,145,838 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $227,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772,190 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Pivotal Research reduced their price target 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. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.78.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $40.11 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.63. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.01.

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 business 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 revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.80%.

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.