Vicus Capital Trims Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Vicus Capital lowered its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 28.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,747 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 4,200 shares during the period. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Comcast were worth $403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Comcast by 530.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $143,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885,370 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Comcast by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $318,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,453 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 30,364,136 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,268,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717,762 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMCSA has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark cut their price target on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the 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 approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Comcast Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $35.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $133.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $37.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.76.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.81%.

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.