Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Has $17.88 Million Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 51.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 428,162 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 459,882 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $17,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 115,703,280 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $5,015,737,000 after purchasing an additional 7,929,963 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 2.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 38,329,384 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,500,722,000 after buying an additional 1,000,626 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Comcast by 41.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,016,389 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,214,512,000 after acquiring an additional 8,243,302 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 25,881.7% during the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 10,850,995 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $470,391,000 after acquiring an additional 10,809,231 shares during the period. Finally, First Pacific Advisors LP lifted its position in Comcast by 2.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 219,894 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Comcast stock traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $43.55. 1,111,087 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,544,756. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.82. The firm has a market cap of $166.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted 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. 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 analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank upgraded Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.75.

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.