Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. cut its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,376 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 338 shares during the period. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 9,928 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,912,123 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $83,847,000 after purchasing an additional 7,036 shares during the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 868.0% in the fourth quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 358,887 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $15,737,000 after purchasing an additional 321,812 shares during the last quarter. Skopos Labs Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,369,000. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its position in shares of Comcast by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 29,370 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,230 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,375,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,521,572. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $36.43 and a 1-year high of $47.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $151.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.99.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $30.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.83 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Comcast’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total transaction of $10,134,384.37. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,380,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $47.25 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Macquarie decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, April 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.33.

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.