Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,631,062 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 226,997 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.49% of Comcast worth $699,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Macquarie cut their price objective on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.64.

Comcast Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $36.62 on Monday. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $35.89 and a 200 day moving average of $38.99.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

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.