Hickory Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Shares in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Hickory Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,171 shares of the cable giant's stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

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 transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.48. The company had a trading volume of 22,698,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,956,936. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The firm has a market cap of $137.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.79, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $36.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share 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 predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This is a boost from Comcast's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.