Hancock Whitney Corp Cuts Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Hancock Whitney Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,530 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 5,301 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Comcast by 204.7% during the 2nd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Comcast by 365.4% during the 3rd 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, Archer Investment Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 177.1% in the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 812 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of CMCSA opened at $43.20 on Tuesday. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $36.43 and a 12-month high of $47.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

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

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank raised Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Comcast from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.19.

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.