Exeter Financial LLC Cuts Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Exeter Financial LLC decreased its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,689 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in Comcast by 154.6% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 611 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 299.1% in the 4th quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 634,727 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 475,675 shares in the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 336.9% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 769 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total transaction of $10,134,384.37. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,380,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on CMCSA. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Comcast from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Macquarie dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.62.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of Comcast stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $38.05. The company had a trading volume of 3,675,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,472,861. The stock has a market cap of $149.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.44. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $36.43 and a 12-month high of $47.46.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly 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. Comcast had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $30.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 32.80%.

Comcast Company 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.