Empire Life Investments Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Empire Life Investments Inc. cut its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 478,635 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 135,207 shares during the quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $17,963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Comcast by 365.4% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Comcast by 220.3% in 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 in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CMCSA shares. Scotiabank lowered Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Pivotal Research raised their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Ten 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % 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 insiders.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $133.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.76.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

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

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.