Principle Wealth Partners LLC Sells 3,039 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,911 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 3,039 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after acquiring an additional 6,062,658 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,871,235 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,331,192,000 after acquiring an additional 416,759 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 30,364,136 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,268,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,717,762 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in Comcast by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $667,620,000 after acquiring an additional 822,936 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 14,918,501 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $623,146,000 after acquiring an additional 676,920 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of CMCSA opened at $35.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $133.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.85. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Benchmark reduced their target price on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.