Legato Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Legato Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 52.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,736 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 24,409 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 269.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 365.4% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 220.3% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing 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 1.4 %

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.38 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.79. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $133.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results 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%. Equities analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the topic of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.