Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. trimmed its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 19.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,508 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 3,168 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Taurus Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Comcast by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,060 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $796,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 54.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Down 0.4 %

CMCSA opened at $35.95 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $135.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.29. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current 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 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is 31.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CMCSA. 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

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.