Root Financial Partners LLC Purchases 2,277 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 41.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,753 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,277 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 904.0% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares in the last quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Comcast by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,842,000 after purchasing an additional 59,107 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted 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 worth $7,161,000 after purchasing an additional 22,684 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in Comcast by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 855,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,118,000 after purchasing an additional 24,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 68,139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of 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 trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on CMCSA. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen cut their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Macquarie cut their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

Comcast Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $35.39 on Friday. 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 price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.76.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase 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%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.81%.

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.