Sapient Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Sapient Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,841 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 954 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 269.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 365.4% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 220.3% in the third 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. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.23 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.85. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.21 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Ten equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

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.