Short Interest in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Expands By 6.0%

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 61,280,000 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the October 15th total of 57,790,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 17,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their target price 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.75.

Comcast Trading Down 1.4 %

Comcast stock traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.88. The stock had a trading volume of 18,344,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,773,458. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.88. 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 has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $47.11. The firm has a market cap of $164.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Comcast’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Comcast’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 204.7% in the 2nd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Comcast by 365.4% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.