Empirical Finance LLC Increases Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 158,525 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,311 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $6,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Comcast by 4.5% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,027 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in shares of Comcast by 8.9% in the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 191,846 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,513,000 after buying an additional 15,664 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 0.7% in the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $92,331,000 after buying an additional 15,807 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in Comcast by 3,816.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 558,382 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $21,866,000 after acquiring an additional 544,123 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the first quarter worth $773,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Pivotal Research increased their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.75.

Comcast Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $43.40 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $166.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.47 and its 200-day moving average is $39.82.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Comcast’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.33%.

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.