Empirical Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Empirical Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 27.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,040 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,917 shares during the quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A bought a new position in Comcast during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 94.1% in the third quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 623 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 299.1% in the fourth quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 634,727 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 475,675 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. 82.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $44.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Comcast from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Comcast from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total transaction of $5,289,928.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Down 0.3 %

CMCSA traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $42.74. The company had a trading volume of 13,286,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,409,721. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.30. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $35.28 and a 52 week high of $47.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $169.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.98.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $31.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.41 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 12.66%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Comcast’s payout ratio is 31.18%.

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.