HighTower Advisors LLC Has $72.34 Million Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,732,275 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 80,439 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $72,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.5% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,027 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,411,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in Comcast by 3.7% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $80,232,000 after acquiring an additional 68,139 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $92,331,000 after purchasing an additional 15,807 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in Comcast by 3,816.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 558,382 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $21,866,000 after purchasing an additional 544,123 shares during the period. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its position in Comcast by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 9,500,000 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $372,020,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $42.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.37 and a 200-day moving average of $40.23. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $36.43 and a 1 year high of $47.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Comcast from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie upped their target price on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.19.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

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

Comcast 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.