Paloma Partners Management Co Increases Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Paloma Partners Management Co raised its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 226.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,000 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 121,450 shares during the quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co’s holdings in Comcast were worth $7,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 204.7% in the 2nd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 365.4% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in Comcast by 177.1% in the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 812 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI raised Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.19.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $43.19 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.11.

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. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.33%.

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.