LGT Capital Partners LTD. Reduces Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. lessened its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,067,220 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 65,320 shares during the quarter. Comcast accounts for about 1.6% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.'s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $44,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,027 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in Comcast by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 191,846 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $7,513,000 after purchasing an additional 15,664 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $92,331,000 after buying an additional 15,807 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 3,816.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 558,382 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $21,866,000 after acquiring an additional 544,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Comcast in the first quarter valued at about $773,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Comcast Trading Down 1.4 %

Comcast stock traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.39. 13,634,830 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,596,158. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $36.43 and a 12 month high of $47.11. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $41.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.93.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Comcast's payout ratio is 33.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Comcast from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Comcast from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.19.

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.