Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,491,893 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 5,752 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Comcast were worth $206,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 365.4% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 220.3% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Ten 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In related news, 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 value of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $34.90 on Thursday. 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 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.82.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 29.88%.

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.