Triangle Securities Wealth Management Cuts Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Triangle Securities Wealth Management lessened its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,853 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,549 shares during the quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management’s holdings in Comcast were worth $895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CMCSA. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,871,235 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,331,192,000 after acquiring an additional 416,759 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,268,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,717,762 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $667,620,000 after acquiring an additional 822,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 14,918,501 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $623,146,000 after acquiring an additional 676,920 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on CMCSA shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.33.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $36.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $36.15 and a one year high of $47.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.16.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

About Comcast

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.