Avestar Capital LLC Sells 1,603 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Avestar Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,258 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,603 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Comcast Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $34.90 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $131.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $37.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.79.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Comcast’s payout ratio is 29.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Pivotal Research increased their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

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.