Flputnam Investment Management Co. Reduces Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 231,082 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 7,898 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $10,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Capital Analysts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 205,295 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $9,002,000 after purchasing an additional 4,336 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 9,018 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the period. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 105.0% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,550,431 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $67,986,000 after purchasing an additional 68,371 shares during the period. Finally, Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 58,846 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,580,000 after purchasing an additional 3,107 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Comcast from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.50.

Comcast Stock Up 0.2 %

CMCSA traded up $0.06 on Monday, hitting $39.43. The company had a trading volume of 21,028,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,706,645. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.38 and a 52-week high of $47.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.98.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.04. Comcast had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The business had revenue of $31.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.41 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total transaction of $5,289,928.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

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.