Apella Capital LLC Grows Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Apella Capital LLC increased its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 21.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,534 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,654 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,584 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,277,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,445 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.7% in the third quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,829 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. grew its position in Comcast by 2.0% during the third quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 13,554 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $36.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $139.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.23. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $36.15 and a 12 month high of $47.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % 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

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.33.

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.