Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 9.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 734,261 shares of the cable giant's stock after acquiring an additional 65,939 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $30,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 38,329,384 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,500,722,000 after buying an additional 1,000,626 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Comcast by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,871,235 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,331,192,000 after purchasing an additional 416,759 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in Comcast by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $667,620,000 after purchasing an additional 822,936 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Comcast by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 10,818,009 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $423,633,000 after purchasing an additional 219,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,886,479 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $387,155,000 after purchasing an additional 713,330 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on CMCSA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Macquarie increased their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI raised Comcast to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.19.

Comcast Stock Down 0.1 %

CMCSA stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,637,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,840,952. The company has a market cap of $166.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50-day moving average is $41.98 and its 200-day moving average is $40.04. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $36.43 and a 12 month high of $47.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

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.