Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 5,752 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,491,893 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 5,752 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.14% of Comcast worth $206,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 269.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 365.4% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 220.3% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $34.90 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $131.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $37.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.68. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

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.