Wesbanco Bank Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. cut its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 65.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,718 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 97,015 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 7.7% during the second quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 107,486 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,209,000 after buying an additional 7,674 shares during the last quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Comcast by 29.8% in the second quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 11,539 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,648 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO grew its position in Comcast by 51.7% in the 2nd quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 3,259 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 16.4% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 2,009 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Greenfield Savings Bank increased its position in Comcast by 2.1% during the second quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 42,175 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 858 shares during 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 equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Pivotal Research decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.01.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total value of $10,134,384.37. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,000,000 shares in the company, valued at $6,380,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $39.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $38.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $36.43 and a 1 year high of $47.46.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Comcast had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The firm had revenue of $29.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.80%.

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.