Ieq Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 47.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 392,329 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 126,546 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $14,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in Comcast by 55,334.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after buying an additional 6,062,658 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in Comcast by 530.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $143,242,000 after buying an additional 2,885,370 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Comcast by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $318,036,000 after buying an additional 1,833,453 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 30,364,136 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,268,310,000 after buying an additional 1,717,762 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CMCSA. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

Comcast Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.48 on Thursday. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The company has a market capitalization of $137.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.62.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Equities analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. 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. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 31.81%.

Comcast Company 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.