Short Interest in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Drops By 5.6%

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 57,850,000 shares, a decrease of 5.6% from the October 31st total of 61,280,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 18,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Comcast Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $43.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $165.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast has a fifty-two week low of $36.43 and a fifty-two week high of $47.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.18.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 154,036 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $6,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,323 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 15.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after buying an additional 22,684 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in Comcast by 55,334.5% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $345,565,000 after acquiring an additional 8,258,128 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 904.0% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $10,632,000 after acquiring an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 763,784 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $33,202,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank upgraded Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their price target on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.19.

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.