Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Lowers Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC decreased its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 43.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,776 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 5,151 shares during the period. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased 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 worth $4,904,647,000 after acquiring an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,871,235 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,331,192,000 after purchasing an additional 416,759 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 6.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $667,620,000 after buying an additional 822,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 14,918,501 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $623,146,000 after acquiring an additional 676,920 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $34.37 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.89. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.31. The stock has a market cap of $131.52 billion, a PE ratio of 8.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 29.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank lowered shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America lowered shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $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.

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.