Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 395,048 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 33,114 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $14,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $345,565,000 after acquiring an additional 8,258,128 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Comcast by 530.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $143,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885,370 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 31.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $318,036,000 after buying an additional 1,833,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,268,310,000 after buying an additional 1,717,762 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Comcast Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $34.37 on Monday. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.95 billion, a PE ratio of 8.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. As a group, 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 given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Comcast Company 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.