Employees Retirement System of Texas Sells 23,609 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Employees Retirement System of Texas trimmed its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,610 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 23,609 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Comcast were worth $32,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 54.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Down 6.6 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $33.38 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $126.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.87. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMCSA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.08.

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.