Geode Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Geode Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,805,867 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 985,513 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.22% of Comcast worth $3,529,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the second quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 204.7% during the second quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 365.4% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the third quarter worth about $30,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock traded up $0.48 on Tuesday, hitting $39.53. The company had a trading volume of 28,643,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,615,258. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $47.11. 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 cap of $151.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 3.14%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CMCSA. Barclays boosted their target price on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Comcast from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.19.

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.