Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 395,048 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 33,114 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $14,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 269.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 365.4% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Comcast by 220.3% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 54.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $34.37 on Monday. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $129.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 forecast 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CMCSA. Barclays reduced their price objective on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

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.