Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Holdings Raised by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 73.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,428 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,764 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Luken Investment Analytics LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 258.0% in the 1st quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 580 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 154.6% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 611 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 336.9% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 769 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total transaction of $10,134,384.37. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,000,000 shares in the company, valued at $6,380,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMCSA has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas cut Comcast from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Pivotal Research lowered their price target on Comcast from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $47.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.01.

Comcast Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $40.68. The company had a trading volume of 21,995,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,537,992. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $159.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.63. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $36.43 and a 12-month high of $47.46.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $29.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.02 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 20.17%. Comcast’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is 32.80%.

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.