Aureus Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Aureus Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,273 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,103 shares during the period. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $6,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. FMR LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 5.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Comcast by 2.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 38,329,384 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,500,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,626 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Comcast by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,871,235 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,331,192,000 after purchasing an additional 416,759 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 6.0% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,717,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its position in Comcast by 5.4% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $667,620,000 after purchasing an additional 822,936 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $43.19 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.29 and a 200 day moving average of $40.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $165.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank raised Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Macquarie raised their price target on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.19.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’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 value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.