D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 4,698 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 183,011 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 4,698 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $6,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Citizens & Northern Corp increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 44,927 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 3,065 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,947,986 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $73,108,000 after purchasing an additional 41,471 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,322,639 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $49,639,000 after purchasing an additional 18,251 shares during the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 8,593 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 96.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,923 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,902 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of CMCSA opened at $36.48 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $36.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.62. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $137.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.79, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CMCSA. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

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.