Morningstar Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Morningstar Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 20.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 168,723 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 43,160 shares during the period. Comcast comprises about 0.5% of Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $6,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,758,000. Boston Financial Mangement LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 18,733 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $300,000. Sunpointe LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 10,245 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 2,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LMG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 41,488 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. KeyCorp upped their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $36.48 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $137.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

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.