AE Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Comcast Corporation $CMCSA

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management boosted its stake in Comcast by 51.8% in Q4 to 1,029,803 shares, valued at about $30.78 million.
• CEO Michael J. Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares at roughly $32.66 on Feb. 11, reducing his holding by 8.52%; insiders own 1.32% while institutional investors hold 84.32% of the stock.
• Several firms have cut price targets and ratings recently, leaving a MarketBeat consensus of "Hold" with a consensus price target of $34.81.

AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 51.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,029,803 shares of the cable giant's stock after purchasing an additional 351,353 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Comcast were worth $30,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Comcast by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 180,687,135 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $5,677,190,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,335 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in Comcast by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 112,567,918 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $3,536,884,000 after buying an additional 1,295,598 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Comcast by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,706,330 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,059,053,000 after buying an additional 10,633,206 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Comcast by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 24,104,774 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $757,372,000 after buying an additional 686,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 22,047,063 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $692,719,000 after buying an additional 2,470,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comcast news, CEO Michael J. Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total value of $1,892,549.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 622,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,325,493.76. The trade was a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on CMCSA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Comcast from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Pivotal Research cut Comcast from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Comcast from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Comcast from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.81.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $29.35 on Friday. Comcast Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.75 and a 12 month high of $36.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company's fifty day moving average price is $30.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.15.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.09. Comcast had a net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The company had revenue of $32.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. Comcast's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Comcast's payout ratio is 24.58%.

Comcast Company Profile

Comcast Corporation NASDAQ: CMCSA is a diversified global media and technology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal operations are organized around Comcast Cable, which provides broadband internet, video, voice and wireless services to residential and business customers in the United States under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands, and NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment group that develops, produces and distributes content across broadcast and cable networks, film, and streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal's assets include the NBC broadcast network, a portfolio of cable channels, Universal Pictures and other film and television production businesses, and the Peacock streaming service.

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