Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Has $1.08 Million Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. decreased its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,756 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 5,530 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Comcast by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,207,704 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $45,686,000 after buying an additional 120,172 shares during the last quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 107,290 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,470 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at $345,000. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 100.3% during the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 13,904 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 6,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP grew its position in shares of Comcast by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 477,589 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $17,924,000 after acquiring an additional 217,131 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $33.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $129.87 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $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. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This is a positive change 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 3.89%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.88%.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.