Trust Co. of Vermont Sells 40,628 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Trust Co. of Vermont decreased its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 220,381 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 40,628 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont's holdings in Comcast were worth $8,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 904.0% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 15.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $7,161,000 after acquiring an additional 22,684 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $80,232,000 after acquiring an additional 68,139 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $92,331,000 after purchasing an additional 15,807 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the third quarter valued at about $2,541,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CMCSA. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.33.

Comcast Trading Up 0.7 %

Comcast stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.58. 21,859,674 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,748,178. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $36.15 and a 12 month high of $47.11. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $39.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $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.

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.