Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Trims Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc decreased its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,062 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 577 shares during the quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Comcast by 904.0% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after acquiring an additional 229,192 shares in the last quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 136.7% during the 4th quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,842,000 after purchasing an additional 59,107 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after purchasing an additional 22,684 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 855,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,118,000 after purchasing an additional 24,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $80,232,000 after purchasing an additional 68,139 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $35.23 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.54 and a 200 day moving average of $39.85. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is 29.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CMCSA. Citigroup lowered their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target 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. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

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.