Sowell Financial Services LLC Raises Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Taurus Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.5% during the 3rd 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 grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 54.8% during the 3rd 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 grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.8% during the 4th 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 research firms have recently weighed in on CMCSA. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank cut shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $135.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $36.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.29. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

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.