Verity Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,157 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Verity Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,916 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,157 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 904.0% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after acquiring an additional 229,192 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 15.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after buying an additional 22,684 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 3.7% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $80,232,000 after acquiring an additional 68,139 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $92,331,000 after acquiring an additional 15,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,541,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank lowered shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Ten equities research 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.com, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

Comcast Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $33.19 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.61 and a 200 day moving average of $40.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.