Advisor Resource Council Acquires Shares of 14,630 Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 14,630 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $611,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 204.7% in the 2nd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 365.4% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp boosted its stake in Comcast by 177.1% during the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 812 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their target price on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.75.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $45.14 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $41.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $36.43 and a one year high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

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.