Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 1,699 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,436 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,699 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in Comcast by 55,334.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,904,647,000 after acquiring an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 530.5% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $143,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885,370 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 31.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $318,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 6.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 30,364,136 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,268,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717,762 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Comcast Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $34.90 on Thursday. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.38 and a 200-day moving average of $39.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $131.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00.

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 research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CMCSA. Benchmark lowered their target price on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, February 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

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.