Hartford Investment Management Co. Has $8.85 Million Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 235,878 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 7,268 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $8,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 365.4% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 220.3% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.23 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.21 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.88%.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. Bank of America lowered Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Macquarie reduced their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Comcast 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.