Wedmont Private Capital Lowers Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Wedmont Private Capital decreased its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 7.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,688 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 2,383 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Comcast were worth $967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 150.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 166,265 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $6,240,000 after buying an additional 99,986 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at $1,654,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at $143,000. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 38,937 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 6,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 119,836 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,497,000 after purchasing an additional 9,182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CMCSA. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $44.50 target price (down previously from $45.00) on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Comcast from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $37.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.10.

Comcast Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $34.70 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.33. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $31.44 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $129.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.95.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The cable giant reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The company had revenue of $29.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. Comcast’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.43%.

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.