Independence Bank of Kentucky Increases Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,053 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Comcast were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 269.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Comcast by 365.4% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 54.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’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 value of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. Macquarie lowered their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark cut their price target on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $33.66 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $128.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.05, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.07. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is 31.81%.

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.