Zullo Investment Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Zullo Investment Group Inc. lessened its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,814 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,185 shares during the quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $331,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Financial Mangement LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 18,733 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $300,000. Sunpointe LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 10,245 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 2,607 shares during the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Comcast by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 41,488 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,557,000 after buying an additional 3,327 shares during the period. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,032,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp lifted 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 decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Insider Activity

In other Comcast 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $36.48 on Thursday. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.62. The company has a market capitalization of $137.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79, a PEG ratio of 1.73 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.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

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.