Perpetual Ltd Sells 12,554 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Perpetual Ltd trimmed its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,373,062 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 12,554 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Comcast were worth $51,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Comcast during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Comcast by 269.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Comcast by 365.4% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 220.3% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Comcast Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CMCSA traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.97. The stock had a trading volume of 21,094,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,636,379. The firm has a market cap of $141.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.18. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $36.15 and a twelve month high of $47.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

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

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company 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 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three 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 a consensus price target of $47.33.

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.