Earnest Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,156 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,095 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in Comcast by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 15,613 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 71.7% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 50,539 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,451,000 after purchasing an additional 21,112 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $857,000. Evoke Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 10,668 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 2,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.58.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $41.64 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.11. The company has a market cap of $163.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.01.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $29.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.02 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 12.46%. The company’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 32.80%.

Comcast Company 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.