Bfsg LLC Purchases 73,590 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Bfsg LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 752.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 73,590 shares during the quarter. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th 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. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 365.4% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Up 0.0 %

CMCSA stock opened at $35.39 on Tuesday. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $133.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.70.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. As a group, analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast 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 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. The trade was 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 insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CMCSA. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark lowered their price target on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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.