Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Holdings Decreased by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management cut its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 123,006 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 2,062 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Comcast were worth $4,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after acquiring an additional 6,062,658 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 530.5% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $143,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885,370 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Comcast by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $318,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,453 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 30,364,136 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,268,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717,762 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $33.55 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.97. 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 stock has a market cap of $128.38 billion, a PE ratio of 8.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.38.

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 net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.88%.

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.