Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Purchased by Buckingham Capital Management Inc.

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,992 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,330 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 269.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 365.4% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the third quarter worth about $30,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $35.39 on Tuesday. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $45.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the 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 directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CMCSA. Bank of America lowered Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note 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. Finally, Scotiabank cut Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

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.