Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by Wealth Alliance

Wealth Alliance reduced its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,259 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,128 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in Comcast by 18.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 832,594 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,810,000 after purchasing an additional 132,442 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 11.2% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,941 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,710,000 after purchasing an additional 4,128 shares during the period. Eastern Bank increased its stake in Comcast by 67.4% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 17,295 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 6,963 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Comcast in the third quarter valued at $357,000. Finally, Monte Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.8% during the third quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC now owns 207,489 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $8,667,000 after acquiring an additional 3,634 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.41 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The company has a market capitalization of $137.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.60.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Equities analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders 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 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 29.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

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.