Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Cuts Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,500 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 269.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Comcast during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 54.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $36.26 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $45.31. The firm has a market cap of $137.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.58.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. 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 29.88%.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.