Principle Wealth Partners LLC Sells 3,039 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,911 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 3,039 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Comcast during the third quarter valued at $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Comcast by 365.4% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Up 2.2 %

Comcast stock opened at $35.23 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.85. The company has a market cap of $133.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on CMCSA shares. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Macquarie reduced their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

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.