Balentine LLC Increases Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Balentine LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 33.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,144 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,055 shares during the period. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Comcast during the third quarter valued at $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Up 0.3 %

CMCSA opened at $34.47 on Tuesday. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $130.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.88.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. 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 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.