Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Trims Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 92,285 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 22,090 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CMCSA. Taurus Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,829 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Arvest Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 27,211 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, Mengis Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,060 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $796,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was 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 Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $35.39 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.70.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (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, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark decreased their price target on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.