Investment Management Associates Inc. ADV Buys 2,696 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Investment Management Associates Inc. ADV grew its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 221,933 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,696 shares during the period. Comcast comprises approximately 3.6% of Investment Management Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Investment Management Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Comcast were worth $8,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Taurus Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,829 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. raised its position in Comcast by 1.0% in the third quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 27,211 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 14.8% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 1.5% during the third quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,060 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $796,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $36.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $137.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.60. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Benchmark cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.