Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by Platform Technology Partners

Platform Technology Partners lowered its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,580 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 504 shares during the period. Platform Technology Partners’ holdings in Comcast were worth $247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Comcast by 18.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 832,594 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,810,000 after buying an additional 132,442 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 34,018 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Boston Common Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,004,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in Comcast by 5.6% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 6,875 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the third quarter worth $1,690,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This represents 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 at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas raised Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $34.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $131.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.89. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. 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 (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 29.88%.

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.