HM Payson & Co. Sells 848 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

HM Payson & Co. lessened its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,546 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 848 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $2,542,988,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Comcast by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 107,773,317 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,725,926,000 after buying an additional 15,625,543 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its position in Comcast by 25,881.7% in the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 10,850,995 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $470,391,000 after buying an additional 10,809,231 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Comcast by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,016,389 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,214,512,000 after buying an additional 8,243,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Comcast by 80.9% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,542,253 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $457,007,000 after buying an additional 4,714,586 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total value of $10,134,384.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,380,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.90. 25,951,665 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,184,204. The company has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $36.43 and a 12-month high of $47.46.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 12.46%. The firm had revenue of $29.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Pivotal Research lowered their price objective on Comcast from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Comcast from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Comcast from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.01.

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.