AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Purchases 316,320 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 18.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,023,648 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 316,320 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Comcast were worth $75,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 96,036 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,604,000 after purchasing an additional 7,011 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 371.8% in the fourth quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 237,075 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $8,897,000 after purchasing an additional 186,830 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,753 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 253,429 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $9,511,000 after purchasing an additional 14,897 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CMCSA. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Macquarie decreased their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast 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 owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.39 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $133.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 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%. On average, analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.81%.

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.