Aureus Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Aureus Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 165,273 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,103 shares during the quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $6,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Comcast from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.19.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $43.19 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.29 and its 200 day moving average is $40.18. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.43 and a fifty-two week high of $47.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released 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. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, 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 value of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

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.