ORG Partners LLC Sells 825 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

ORG Partners LLC cut its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 30.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,881 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 825 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Comcast by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 53,653,778 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,876,273,000 after buying an additional 7,084,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,798,173,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 46,019,891 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,040,522,000 after purchasing an additional 141,874 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 42,448,741 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,245,022,000 after purchasing an additional 189,845 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 42,441,142 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,987,094,000 after purchasing an additional 473,150 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of Comcast 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $39.43 on Tuesday. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $36.38 and a 1-year high of $47.46. The stock has a market cap of $156.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.04. Comcast had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The business had revenue of $31.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.41 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $50.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Comcast from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.50.

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.