Sowell Financial Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,674 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 506 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Taurus Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 2.9% during the third quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 14.8% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 1.5% during the third quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,060 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $796,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 54.8% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

Comcast Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $35.95 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.29.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

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.