Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Cuts Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 49.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,166,399 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,138,225 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $43,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. now owns 41,653 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,563,000 after buying an additional 1,247 shares in the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $294,000. Balentine LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 12,144 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 3,055 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Services grew its stake in Comcast by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 37,908 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $271,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI raised Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America downgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Comcast Trading Up 0.0 %

Comcast stock opened at $35.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $133.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.76. 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 (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid 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 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

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.