Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,164 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 7,300 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Comcast by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 832,594 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,810,000 after purchasing an additional 132,442 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Comcast by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 7,873 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in Comcast by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 959,549 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $40,080,000 after purchasing an additional 24,968 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Comcast by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,166 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. grew its position in Comcast by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 12,634 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction 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 approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CMCSA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $35.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $133.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.76. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31.

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, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

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.