Private Advisor Group LLC Cuts Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 352,575 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 15,306 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $13,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CMCSA. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 904.0% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after acquiring an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 752.8% in the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,129,000 after purchasing an additional 73,590 shares during the period. Robinson Value Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Comcast by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,842,000 after purchasing an additional 59,107 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 15.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after purchasing an additional 22,684 shares during the period. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. increased its position in Comcast by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 855,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,118,000 after buying an additional 24,827 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.65 and a 200-day moving average of $39.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 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%. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank cut shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Comcast Company 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.