Mizuho Securities USA LLC Trims Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC trimmed its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 250,499 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 51,302 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $10,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised 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 valued at $1,214,512,000 after buying an additional 8,243,302 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 80.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,542,253 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $457,007,000 after purchasing an additional 4,714,586 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 92.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,722,620 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $339,223,000 after acquiring an additional 4,182,525 shares during the period. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the first quarter valued at about $102,119,000. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the first quarter valued at about $93,051,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $42.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $36.43 and a 12 month high of $47.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on CMCSA shares. Scotiabank raised shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Pivotal Research increased 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 given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.