Ballentine Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Ballentine Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,465 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,269 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Capital World Investors boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 15,625,543 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,542,988,000. Harris Associates L P boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 18,873,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $827,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,854,671 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 15,688,650 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $687,947,000 after acquiring an additional 570,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,692,327 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $644,258,000 after acquiring an additional 329,278 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $38.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,513,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,392,566. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.67 billion, a PE ratio of 10.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.52. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.46.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $30.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. Comcast’s payout ratio is 32.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Comcast from $55.00 to $53.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup decreased 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. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate 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.