Verity Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,157 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Verity Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,916 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,157 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CMCSA. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 269.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Comcast by 365.4% during the third 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 last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 220.3% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Comcast by 54.8% during 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 during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Scotiabank lowered Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Ten 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

Comcast Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $33.19 on Tuesday. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.38. The company has a market capitalization of $127.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.88%.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other Comcast news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This trade 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 this link. Also, 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 trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by 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.