Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 24,162 Shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its ownership in Comcast Corporation by 6.1%, now holding 419,464 shares valued at approximately $15.5 million.
• Comcast's quarterly earnings report beat analyst expectations, with an earnings per share of $1.09 and a revenue of $29.89 billion.
• The company's dividend yield stands at 3.92%, following a recently disclosed quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 419,464 shares of the cable giant's stock after buying an additional 24,162 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $15,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Comcast by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $5,317,167,000 after purchasing an additional 11,255,683 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $3,212,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,272 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in Comcast by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 79,102,667 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $2,968,723,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,823 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Comcast by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 50,320,446 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,890,027,000 after purchasing an additional 5,402,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Comcast by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,175,969 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,695,454,000 after purchasing an additional 4,669,069 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, July 18th. New Street Research cut their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Comcast from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on Comcast from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $41.13.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.13. 9,356,361 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,178,840. Comcast Corporation has a 12 month low of $31.44 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $34.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.95.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 2nd. Comcast's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.43%.

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.