ARS Investment Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

ARS Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 41.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 191,691 shares of the cable giant's stock after buying an additional 55,770 shares during the quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Comcast were worth $7,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 535,622 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $20,102,000 after acquiring an additional 14,230 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 85,443 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $3,207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,277 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,587,000 after purchasing an additional 11,693 shares in the last quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. increased its position in Comcast by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. now owns 8,761 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Comcast by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 416,693 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $15,638,000 after buying an additional 66,002 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business'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 approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Comcast Trading Up 1.1 %

CMCSA stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.97. 21,094,228 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,636,379. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $39.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.47 billion, a PE ratio of 9.94, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Co. has a one year low of $36.15 and a one year high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Comcast's payout ratio is 33.33%.

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.