Quent Capital LLC Trims Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Quent Capital LLC lowered its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,750 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 905 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Balentine LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 12,144 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 3,055 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Services raised its position in Comcast by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 37,908 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $271,000. Cambiar Investors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 1,485,207 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $55,740,000 after purchasing an additional 32,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its position in shares of Comcast by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 9,501 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Comcast news, 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 value of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % 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, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was 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

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.23 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.85. The stock has a market cap of $133.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 29.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMCSA has been the subject of several research reports. BNP Paribas raised Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Comcast 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.