Insider Selling: Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) CEO Sells 234,464 Shares of Stock

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,556,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,568,174. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.14. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.43 and a fifty-two week high of $47.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Comcast by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 154,036 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $6,434,000 after buying an additional 3,323 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 22,684 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $345,565,000 after acquiring an additional 8,258,128 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 0.6% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 763,784 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $33,202,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Macquarie raised their price target on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.19.

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.