Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 32,314 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Wright Investors Service Inc. trimmed its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 26.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 92,088 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 32,314 shares during the period. Comcast makes up 1.1% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Comcast in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 365.4% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 220.3% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 54.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $36.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.80, a PEG ratio of 1.50 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. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $36.24 and a one year high of $47.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.25.

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

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CMCSA shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Comcast from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Pivotal Research raised their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.