Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Cuts Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC trimmed its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,681 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 10,018 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in Comcast by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. now owns 41,653 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247 shares during the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at $294,000. Balentine LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 12,144 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 3,055 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Services increased its position in Comcast by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 37,908 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after buying an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at about $271,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $34.90 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.82. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The firm has a market cap of $131.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. On average, analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business 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 is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.88%.

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.