Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Short Interest Update

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 53,510,000 shares, a growth of 14.4% from the March 31st total of 46,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 21,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Everett Harris & Co. CA lifted its position in Comcast by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 1,687,406 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $73,993,000 after acquiring an additional 121,279 shares during the last quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Comcast by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 101,182 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,438,000 after buying an additional 1,486 shares during the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Comcast by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 18,761 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $823,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the period. PFG Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 23,073 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,012,000 after buying an additional 5,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,868,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Up 0.7 %

Comcast stock traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $38.38. The company had a trading volume of 6,327,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,695,582. Comcast has a fifty-two week low of $36.43 and a fifty-two week high of $47.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.47 and its 200-day moving average is $42.47.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $30.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.83 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 12.64%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on CMCSA. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Comcast from $55.00 to $53.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.60.

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.