Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 9.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 588,045 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 59,219 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $21,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sculati Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,792 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Comcast by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 26,470 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $993,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 15,539 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 18,706 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 10,112 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Up 1.4%

CMCSA opened at $34.70 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $31.44 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $34.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $129.56 billion, a PE ratio of 8.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.95.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The cable giant reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $29.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.82 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 32.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CMCSA shares. UBS Group set a $44.50 price objective on Comcast in a report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $55.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Argus downgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $44.50 price target (down from $45.00) on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.10.

Comcast 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.