Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 853.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,082,766 shares of the cable giant's stock after buying an additional 969,173 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $40,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the second quarter worth $26,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 365.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 220.3% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 54.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 currently owned by insiders.

Comcast Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CMCSA traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.58. 21,859,674 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,851,168. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $36.15 and a 1 year high of $47.11. The firm's fifty day moving average is $40.11 and its 200-day moving average is $40.18. 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 market capitalization of $139.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank upgraded Comcast from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp upped their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.33.

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.