Franklin Resources Inc. Has $1.03 Billion Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,566,716 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,876,111 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,031,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 1,114.9% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,098 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,843 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the second quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Comcast by 1.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 156,805 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $6,140,000 after purchasing an additional 2,226 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 12.5% in the second quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,592 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 843 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 62.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 39,617 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,717,000 after buying an additional 15,285 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Price Performance

Comcast stock opened at $40.24 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.31. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $36.43 and a one year high of $47.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $153.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.99.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank upgraded Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Comcast from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.