Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Sells 29,121 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI cut its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 427,884 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 29,121 shares during the period. Comcast makes up approximately 1.3% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Comcast were worth $16,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Comcast during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 14.2% during the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 25,968 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its position in Comcast by 27.9% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 1,649 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in Comcast by 7.3% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 95,192 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,976,000 after purchasing an additional 6,469 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Comcast during the third quarter worth about $9,445,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $37.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $142.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.