Wealth Alliance Increases Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Wealth Alliance grew its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,505 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at $1,798,173,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Comcast by 121,265.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,530,426 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $892,799,000 after purchasing an additional 25,509,390 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Comcast by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 53,653,778 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,876,273,000 after purchasing an additional 7,084,451 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Comcast by 62.6% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 15,271,853 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $715,028,000 after purchasing an additional 5,880,050 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Comcast by 535.8% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,754,976 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $222,628,000 after purchasing an additional 4,007,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the business’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of Comcast stock traded down $0.27 on Tuesday, hitting $39.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,993,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,569,959. The company has a market capitalization of $155.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.98. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.38 and a 52-week high of $47.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $31.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.41 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 19.75%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $44.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Comcast from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.