Northstar Advisory Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Northstar Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 23,106 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,573 shares during the quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Comcast by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 160,119,465 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $6,652,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,952,552 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Comcast by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 53,653,778 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,876,273,000 after purchasing an additional 7,084,451 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,798,173,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Comcast by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 46,019,891 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,040,522,000 after purchasing an additional 141,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Comcast by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 42,448,741 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,245,022,000 after acquiring an additional 189,845 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $43.49 on Thursday. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $36.38 and a 12-month high of $47.46. The company has a market capitalization of $172.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $31.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.41 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 12.66%. As a group, analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 2nd. 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 dividend yield of 2.85%. Comcast’s payout ratio is 31.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Comcast from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $44.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Comcast from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Comcast from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.68.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $5,289,928.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

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.