Howard Capital Management Inc. Buys 3,910 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 126,353 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,910 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $4,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 269.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 54.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $36.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.58. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 29.88%.

Comcast Company 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.