Romano Brothers AND Company Cuts Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Romano Brothers AND Company lowered its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 35.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,888 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 3,164 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Comcast were worth $221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Comcast by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,350,026 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $92,026,000 after buying an additional 182,130 shares during the last quarter. Holderness Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.4% during the second quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 26,343 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its position in Comcast by 45,218.6% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 95,169 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,727,000 after purchasing an additional 94,959 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 60.9% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,058,445 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $80,609,000 after purchasing an additional 778,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Comcast from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.33.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.58 on Monday. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $36.15 and a 1-year high of $47.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.97 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.18.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Comcast’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction 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 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.