Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 15.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 895,367 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 122,588 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $39,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 94.1% during the 3rd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 623 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 299.1% during the fourth quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 634,727 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 475,675 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total value of $5,289,928.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.50.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $39.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.18 and a 200 day moving average of $42.89. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $36.38 and a 52 week high of $47.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $31.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.41 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 19.75%. As a group, research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 2nd. 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.