Sterling Investment Management LLC Sells 1,931 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Sterling Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,367 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,931 shares during the quarter. Comcast accounts for approximately 2.0% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,798,173,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 121,265.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,530,426 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $892,799,000 after buying an additional 25,509,390 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 53,653,778 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,876,273,000 after purchasing an additional 7,084,451 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 62.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 15,271,853 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $715,028,000 after purchasing an additional 5,880,050 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 229.6% in the 2nd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 6,369,912 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $264,670,000 after purchasing an additional 4,437,276 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CMCSA. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.68.

Comcast Stock Performance

Comcast stock opened at $43.07 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $171.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.22. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $36.35 and a twelve month high of $47.46.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $31.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.41 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 19.75%. Research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 31.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.