Wright Investors Service Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lowered its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 26.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 92,088 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 32,314 shares during the quarter. Comcast accounts for about 1.1% of Wright Investors Service Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Comcast in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 220.3% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 54.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 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 corporate insiders.

Comcast Stock Performance

Comcast stock traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $36.38. 25,093,897 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,639,182. The stock has a market cap of $139.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's 50 day moving average is $40.57 and its 200 day moving average is $40.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.15 and a 52-week high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CMCSA. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised shares of Comcast from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.