Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 22,090 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 92,285 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 22,090 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 18.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 832,594 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,810,000 after acquiring an additional 132,442 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,040,565 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $43,464,000 after purchasing an additional 58,785 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 23,226 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 19,659 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $821,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 33.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,099 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 2,751 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.39 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.93 and its 200 day moving average is $39.70. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The stock has a market cap of $133.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 29.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on CMCSA. Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas upgraded Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities 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 data from MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

Comcast 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.