Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Acquires New Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,622 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $114,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 107,773,317 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,725,926,000 after acquiring an additional 15,625,543 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $2,542,988,000. Harris Associates L P lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 18,873,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $827,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,854,671 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 15,688,650 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $687,947,000 after acquiring an additional 570,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,692,327 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $644,258,000 after acquiring an additional 329,278 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Monday, May 13th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $47.25 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $55.00 to $53.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.83.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $38.48 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $38.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.49. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $36.43 and a 12-month high of $47.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $30.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.22%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.80%.

Insider Activity at Comcast

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

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.