Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Increases Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 45.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 160,112 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 50,372 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $6,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 15,613 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 71.7% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 50,539 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,451,000 after purchasing an additional 21,112 shares during the period. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Comcast by 61.0% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 446,528 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $19,580,000 after purchasing an additional 169,260 shares during the period. Finally, FineMark National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 86,975 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,814,000 after buying an additional 14,170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $40.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.66. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $47.11. The company has a market capitalization of $157.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.01.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $29.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.02 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.78.

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.