Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,853 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 883 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 32,709,601 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,227,591,000 after purchasing an additional 838,366 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 6.0% in the third 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 worth $1,268,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717,762 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $667,620,000 after purchasing an additional 822,936 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 4.8% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 14,918,501 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $623,146,000 after purchasing an additional 676,920 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Macquarie cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $35.56 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $134.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The business’s 50-day moving average is $36.17 and its 200-day moving average is $39.39.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued 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 return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. Equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

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.