Private Management Group Inc. Purchases 24,827 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Private Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 855,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 24,827 shares during the quarter. Comcast makes up 1.2% of Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $32,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in Comcast by 55,334.5% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $345,565,000 after purchasing an additional 8,258,128 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 5.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after buying an additional 6,062,658 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Comcast by 530.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $143,242,000 after buying an additional 2,885,370 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $318,036,000 after acquiring an additional 1,833,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 6.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 30,364,136 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,268,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,717,762 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on CMCSA shares. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

Comcast Stock Up 1.2 %

Comcast stock opened at $33.94 on Thursday. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The firm has a market cap of $129.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.88%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Comcast 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.