Meridian Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,717 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 904.0% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 752.8% during the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,129,000 after buying an additional 73,590 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its stake in Comcast by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 43,509 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,633,000 after buying an additional 3,344 shares in the last quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. increased its stake in Comcast by 136.7% during the 4th quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,842,000 after buying an additional 59,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,161,000 after purchasing an additional 22,684 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CMCSA opened at $35.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $134.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.39. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America lowered Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

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.