Vestcor Inc Reduces Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Vestcor Inc decreased its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 34.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 200,263 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 106,078 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Comcast were worth $8,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $455,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Comcast by 13.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 17,669 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $768,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058 shares during the period. Geller Advisors LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 7.2% during the third quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 23,600 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576 shares during the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC raised its position in Comcast by 0.9% in the third quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 133,514 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $5,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares during the period. Finally, SGL Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,160,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Comcast from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie lifted their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.19.

Comcast Stock Down 9.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $39.05 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.31. The stock has a market cap of $149.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. Comcast’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

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.