Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by Central Bank & Trust Co.

Central Bank & Trust Co. decreased its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 83,973 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 22,989 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Comcast by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 416,693 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $15,638,000 after purchasing an additional 66,002 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Comcast by 72.7% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 84,821 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,084,000 after acquiring an additional 35,704 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 44,970 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 4,211 shares during the last quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC now owns 5,966 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 34,232 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 3,087 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Comcast stock opened at $36.58 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.15 and a fifty-two week high of $47.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.19. The company has a market capitalization of $139.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CMCSA shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target 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 upped their price objective for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.