Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Sells 880 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. decreased its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,467 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 880 shares during the quarter. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA opened at $36.94 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.04. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is 31.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. Bank of America lowered Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.64.

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.