Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont reduced its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 220,381 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 40,628 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Comcast were worth $8,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 904.0% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after buying an additional 22,684 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $80,232,000 after buying an additional 68,139 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 0.7% during the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $92,331,000 after acquiring an additional 15,807 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Comcast during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,541,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Monday, January 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.33.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $36.58. The stock had a trading volume of 21,859,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,748,178. The firm has a market cap of $139.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.15 and a fifty-two week high of $47.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.11 and a 200-day moving average of $40.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Comcast’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.