Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Invests $13.27 Million in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 317,600 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $13,266,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Comcast by 0.8% during the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,584 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 2.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 3.1% during the third quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,445 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 4.7% during the third quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,829 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenwich Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 2.7% during the second quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,754 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Pivotal Research raised their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Macquarie raised their price target on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.19.

Comcast Stock Performance

Comcast stock opened at $42.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.23. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% 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.