Center for Financial Planning Inc. Decreases Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Center for Financial Planning Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,234 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,193 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 365.4% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 220.3% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Up 0.0 %

CMCSA stock opened at $35.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The stock has a market cap of $133.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $37.08 and its 200 day moving average is $39.76.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comcast news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, 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 $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp increased their price target on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays cut their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Ten investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.