Empower Advisory Group LLC Purchases 41,471 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,947,986 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,471 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned about 0.05% of Comcast worth $73,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Comcast by 269.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Comcast by 365.4% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Comcast during the third quarter valued at $30,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CMCSA. Scotiabank cut shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Macquarie decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast 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 completion of the sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $35.39 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $133.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.68. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.