Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by Howard Bailey Securities LLC

Howard Bailey Securities LLC lessened its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,287 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,048 shares during the quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 18.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 832,594 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,810,000 after acquiring an additional 132,442 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 5.2% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 7,873 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Comcast by 2.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 959,549 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $40,080,000 after purchasing an additional 24,968 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Comcast by 2.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,081,809 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $86,957,000 after buying an additional 45,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Regatta Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 12,067 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CMCSA. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

Comcast Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of CMCSA opened at $34.90 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 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 data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. As a group, research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 29.88%.

Insider Activity 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 shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by 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.