Hanlon Investment Management Inc. Sells 297 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Hanlon Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,267 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 297 shares during the period. Hanlon Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 14.8% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Five Oceans Advisors lifted its holdings in Comcast by 2.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Old Port Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 6,910 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Comcast from $44.50 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.50.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $34.15 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.49. The company has a market cap of $129.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.23, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. 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 Co. has a one year low of $32.20 and a one year high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

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.