Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 427,294 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,226 shares during the period. Comcast comprises about 1.8% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $16,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 18.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 832,594 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,810,000 after buying an additional 132,442 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 5.2% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 7,873 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 2.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 959,549 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $40,080,000 after buying an additional 24,968 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 2.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,081,809 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $86,957,000 after buying an additional 45,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Regatta Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 10.2% during the third quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 12,067 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $34.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $37.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.82. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 29.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comcast news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. 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 dated 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. This trade represents a 4.56 % 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.

Comcast 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.