Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Trims Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,558 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,120 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Comcast by 55,334.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Comcast by 530.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $143,242,000 after buying an additional 2,885,370 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 211.7% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,890,571 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $120,739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Comcast by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $318,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,453 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $37.36 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.12 and a 200 day moving average of $40.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $142.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $36.15 and a 52 week high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CMCSA. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. KeyCorp increased their target price 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. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Comcast from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.33.

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.