Empowered Funds LLC Raises Stock Position in Comcast Corporation $CMCSA

Key Points

• Empowered Funds increased its Comcast position by 34.2% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 981,251 shares valued at approximately $27.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.32% of CMCSA.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $32.96, compared with Comcast’s recent share price near $22.80.
• Comcast exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.04 in EPS and $29.94 billion in revenue, though revenue declined 1.2% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, representing an annualized yield of about 5.8%.

Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 34.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 981,251 shares of the cable giant's stock after buying an additional 249,836 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Comcast were worth $27,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Empyrean Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of Comcast by 54.8% during the 1st quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP now owns 1,345,000 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $38,615,000 after buying an additional 476,300 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 4.0% in the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,382 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Comcast by 26.5% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 3,251,923 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $93,363,000 after acquiring an additional 681,383 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Comcast by 181.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,021,827 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $29,337,000 after acquiring an additional 659,094 shares during the period. Finally, Family Manage LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 41.4% during the first quarter. Family Manage LLC now owns 13,416 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 3,931 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays set a $26.00 price target on Comcast and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank set a $29.00 price objective on Comcast in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Comcast from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.96.

Comcast Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $22.80 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The business's 50 day moving average is $23.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.23. Comcast Corporation has a 52-week low of $21.28 and a 52-week high of $34.45. The firm has a market cap of $81.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.38, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.67.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.07. Comcast had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 8.97%.The business had revenue of $29.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Comcast Corporation will post 3.47 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 7th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.72%.

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation NASDAQ: CMCSA is a diversified global media and technology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal operations are organized around Comcast Cable, which provides broadband internet, video, voice and wireless services to residential and business customers in the United States under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands, and NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment group that develops, produces and distributes content across broadcast and cable networks, film, and streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal's assets include the NBC broadcast network, a portfolio of cable channels, Universal Pictures and other film and television production businesses, and the Peacock streaming service.

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