Howland Capital Management LLC Sells 923 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Howland Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,113 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 923 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Comcast by 269.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Comcast by 365.4% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Comcast in the third quarter worth $30,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Comcast by 220.3% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in Comcast by 54.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Comcast Price Performance

Comcast stock opened at $34.37 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.86. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.28, 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 quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced 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, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is 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.