Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Increases Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 968,433 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,215 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $42,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Comcast by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 46,019,891 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,040,522,000 after acquiring an additional 141,874 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Comcast by 4.7% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 15,118,600 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $670,359,000 after purchasing an additional 685,400 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $644,258,000 after buying an additional 329,278 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 11,432,426 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $501,312,000 after buying an additional 581,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,879,580 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $477,070,000 after buying an additional 231,297 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.69. 22,278,723 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,677,254. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $41.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.41. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.46. The company has a market cap of $153.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.99. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $30.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $47.25 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, April 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.60.

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.