Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $5.24 Million Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 119,526 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 4,929 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $5,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 3.8% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,770 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Comcast by 270.1% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 96,633 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,285,000 after purchasing an additional 70,523 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 13,460 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $597,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 4.4% in the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 5,674 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,348,574 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $59,796,000 after buying an additional 61,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.57. 29,782,818 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,954,010. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.57. The company has a market cap of $153.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $36.43 and a 1-year high of $47.46.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $30.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.83 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 12.66%. Comcast’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. StockNews.com downgraded Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $50.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Comcast from $55.00 to $53.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.45.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total transaction of $5,289,928.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

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.