Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Stock Holdings Lessened by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,436 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,699 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $842,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambiar Investors LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 1,485,207 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $55,740,000 after purchasing an additional 32,135 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 9,501 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 65,915 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,474,000 after buying an additional 7,851 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 28,841 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after buying an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panoramic Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $254,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Down 0.9 %

CMCSA stock opened at $34.90 on Thursday. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The company has a market cap of $131.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.82. 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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 29.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Comcast news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CMCSA. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

About Comcast

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.