Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Acquires 50,372 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 45.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 160,112 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,372 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $6,270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Steph & Co. raised its stake in Comcast by 154.6% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 611 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 204.7% in the second quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $40.11 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $36.43 and a 1 year high of $47.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average is $39.57 and its 200-day moving average is $39.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

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

Comcast Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. Pivotal Research decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Comcast from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.78.

Comcast 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.