Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 969,173 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 853.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,082,766 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 969,173 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $40,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 904.0% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 22,684 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 3.7% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $80,232,000 after acquiring an additional 68,139 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 0.7% during the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $92,331,000 after acquiring an additional 15,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the third quarter valued at about $2,541,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing 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 dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was 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 Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $36.31 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $36.15 and a 1-year high of $47.11. The company has a market cap of $138.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.20.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CMCSA. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Comcast from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.33.

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.