Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,675 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,170 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,904,647,000 after buying an additional 6,062,658 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Comcast by 2.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 38,329,384 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,500,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,626 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Comcast by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,871,235 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,331,192,000 after acquiring an additional 416,759 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 6.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 30,364,136 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,268,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,717,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its position in shares of Comcast by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $667,620,000 after purchasing an additional 822,936 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction 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 represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.19.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $39.53 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.31. The firm has a market cap of $151.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.99. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $36.43 and a 12-month high of $47.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

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.