Adirondack Trust Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Adirondack Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,698 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 374 shares during the quarter. Adirondack Trust Co.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth $5,336,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at $333,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 215.7% during the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,622,246 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $158,835,000 after buying an additional 2,474,946 shares during the period. Ariston Services Group bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at about $261,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $5,828,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CMCSA. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Macquarie decreased their price objective on Comcast from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $47.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 2,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,380,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA traded down $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.13. The stock had a trading volume of 4,247,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,151,896. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $36.43 and a 12-month high of $47.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.65.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $30.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.83 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Comcast’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.80%.

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.