Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,780,550 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 206,952 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $141,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 54.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Five Oceans Advisors increased its position in Comcast by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 12,336 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Comcast by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 26,470 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on CMCSA shares. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

Comcast Stock Performance

Comcast stock opened at $36.75 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.08. The company has a market capitalization of $138.95 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 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. Shareholders 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 a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.81%.

Comcast 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.