Atria Investments Inc Sells 13,757 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Atria Investments Inc lessened its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 374,525 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 13,757 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Comcast were worth $14,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Comcast by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,711,752 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $101,772,000 after purchasing an additional 210,426 shares during the period. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at about $280,000. Live Oak Investment Partners lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Live Oak Investment Partners now owns 26,786 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,005,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. SWS Partners grew its position in Comcast by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. SWS Partners now owns 36,170 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,357,000 after buying an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Comcast by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 32,709,601 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,227,591,000 after acquiring an additional 838,366 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $35.50 on Wednesday. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $134.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank lowered shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

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.