M&T Bank Corp Trims Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

M&T Bank Corp lessened its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 949,462 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 570,677 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Comcast were worth $39,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Unigestion Holding SA increased its position in shares of Comcast by 89.0% during the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 209,098 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $8,734,000 after purchasing an additional 98,481 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 7,540 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 8.9% during the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,325 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 12.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 3,669 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortem Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 107.3% in the third quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 20,614 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $861,000 after buying an additional 10,670 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on CMCSA. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Macquarie lifted their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays upped their target price on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Comcast from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business'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 directly owns 534,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Comcast Stock Up 2.2 %

CMCSA stock traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 58,854,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,823,463. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.29. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $146.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.99.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

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.