First Merchants Corp Cuts Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

First Merchants Corp cut its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,656 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 12,945 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Comcast were worth $7,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 229,192 shares in the last quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Comcast by 136.7% during the 4th quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,842,000 after buying an additional 59,107 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 15.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 855,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,118,000 after acquiring an additional 24,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $80,232,000 after acquiring an additional 68,139 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, 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 directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CMCSA. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Ten 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Comcast Trading Up 1.4 %

CMCSA stock opened at $35.38 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.23 and its 200 day moving average is $39.79. The company has a market capitalization of $133.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. 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 (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 29.88%.

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.