Wesbanco Bank Inc. Cuts Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 65.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 51,718 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 97,015 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $2,542,988,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in Comcast by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 107,773,317 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,725,926,000 after purchasing an additional 15,625,543 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 25,881.7% during the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 10,850,995 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $470,391,000 after buying an additional 10,809,231 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,016,389 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,214,512,000 after buying an additional 8,243,302 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 80.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,542,253 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $457,007,000 after buying an additional 4,714,586 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Pivotal Research decreased their target price on Comcast from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Comcast from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.01.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total value of $10,134,384.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,380,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Comcast Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $39.46 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $36.43 and a 12 month high of $47.46. The business’s 50-day moving average is $38.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Comcast had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The business had revenue of $29.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.80%.

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.