Advisor Resource Council Boosts Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Advisor Resource Council lifted its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 75.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,615 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,123 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council’s holdings in Comcast were worth $421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Steph & Co. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 154.6% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 611 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its stake in Comcast by 299.1% in the 4th quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 634,727 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 475,675 shares in the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 336.9% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 769 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Up 0.5 %

Comcast stock opened at $38.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.43 and a fifty-two week high of $47.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $38.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.26.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 12.64%. The business had revenue of $30.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total transaction of $10,134,384.37. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,000,000 shares in the company, valued at $6,380,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.53.

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.