Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 290.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 149,314 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 111,092 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $6,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie increased their price target on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.19.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Comcast Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of CMCSA opened at $42.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $164.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $36.43 and a 1 year high of $47.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.23.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

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.