Leavell Investment Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,279 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 4,284 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Comcast by 904.0% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $10,632,000 after buying an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. raised its position in Comcast by 136.7% during the 4th quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,842,000 after buying an additional 59,107 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Comcast by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,161,000 after buying an additional 22,684 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. raised its position in Comcast by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 855,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,118,000 after buying an additional 24,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in Comcast by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $80,232,000 after buying an additional 68,139 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

Comcast stock opened at $35.38 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

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.