Conning Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Conning Inc. reduced its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 905,875 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 85,897 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $33,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in shares of Comcast by 18.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 832,594 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,810,000 after purchasing an additional 132,442 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of Comcast by 19.7% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 34,018 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the third quarter valued at $5,004,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 5.6% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 6,875 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the third quarter valued at $1,690,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’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 owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Down 0.3 %

CMCSA opened at $34.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $131.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.89. 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 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 data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 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, equities analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 29.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie dropped their price objective on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.