Yousif Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 560,411 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 12,988 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $21,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CMCSA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% during 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 buying an additional 8,258,128 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after acquiring an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 530.5% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $143,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,885,370 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 31.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $318,036,000 after acquiring 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 stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,717,762 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $33.55 on Wednesday. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.38. The firm has a market cap of $128.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.08, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.02. 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, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.88%.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CMCSA. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Benchmark cut their target price on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

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.