World Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 904.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $10,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in Comcast by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $80,232,000 after acquiring an additional 68,139 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 0.7% during the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $92,331,000 after purchasing an additional 15,807 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 3,816.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 558,382 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $21,866,000 after purchasing an additional 544,123 shares during the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 26.7% in the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 9,500,000 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $372,020,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,541,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA opened at $39.71 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $42.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.31. The company has a market cap of $151.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.99. 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 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s payout ratio is 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.