Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Grows Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,825 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the second quarter valued at $27,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 365.4% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 220.3% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA traded down $0.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $36.63. The stock had a trading volume of 12,388,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,580,326. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $36.24 and a 52 week high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.33.

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.