CWA Asset Management Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 191,842 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 34,283 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $7,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CMCSA. FMR LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Comcast by 2.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 38,329,384 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,500,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,626 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,871,235 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,331,192,000 after buying an additional 416,759 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 6.0% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 1,717,762 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $667,620,000 after acquiring an additional 822,936 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen cut their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.33.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA traded up $0.32 during trading on Monday, reaching $37.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,342,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,323,586. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.30. The company has a market capitalization of $145.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

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.