Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lowered its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 51,177 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 2,655 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its position in shares of Comcast by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 9,061 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the period. Crumly & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Comcast by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 14,259 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 3,556 shares during the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 18,761 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $24,639,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $228,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total value of $5,289,928.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CMCSA. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $50.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on Comcast from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Comcast from $55.00 to $53.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.50.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $39.37 on Monday. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $36.38 and a 12-month high of $47.46. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $42.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.98.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $31.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.41 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 12.66%. Equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

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.