Patron Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Patron Partners LLC lifted its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,857 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,393 shares during the quarter. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in Comcast by 18.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 832,594 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,810,000 after acquiring an additional 132,442 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Comcast by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 786,946 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,871,000 after acquiring an additional 41,061 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 41.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 55,912 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 16,507 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 16.7% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 208,262 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $8,699,000 after acquiring an additional 29,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CMCSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. TD Cowen cut their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $33.19 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $127.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.00, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $38.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.07. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.38.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.88%.

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.