Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 1,876,111 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 7.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,566,716 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 1,876,111 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.64% of Comcast worth $1,031,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Comcast by 365.4% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 220.3% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 177.1% in the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 812 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of CMCSA stock traded down $0.32 on Friday, hitting $39.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,949,648 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,637,627. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.99. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.43 and a fifty-two week high of $47.11. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $42.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. Comcast's payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents 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

Several brokerages have issued reports on CMCSA. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI raised Comcast to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Comcast from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.19.

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.