Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Purchased by Fred Alger Management LLC

Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,166 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,586 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $5,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the second quarter worth $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 204.7% in the second quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Comcast by 365.4% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp increased its stake in Comcast by 177.1% during the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 812 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $43.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.11. 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 50 day moving average of $42.29 and a 200-day moving average of $40.17.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank raised shares of 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 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.