Hourglass Capital LLC Grows Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Hourglass Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 30.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,450 shares of the cable giant's stock after acquiring an additional 12,980 shares during the period. Hourglass Capital LLC's holdings in Comcast were worth $2,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Comcast by 904.0% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $3,842,000 after purchasing an additional 59,107 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 15.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $7,161,000 after purchasing an additional 22,684 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 855,787 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $32,118,000 after purchasing an additional 24,827 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 3.7% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $80,232,000 after purchasing an additional 68,139 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Comcast Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:CMCSA traded up $0.13 on Wednesday, reaching $36.48. 22,698,377 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,956,936. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50 day moving average is $36.79 and its 200-day moving average is $39.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.31.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank cut 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, 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. 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.