Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Boosts Stake in Comcast Corporation $CMCSA

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Comcast Corporation by 94.3% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 45,972 shares and bringing its total holdings to 94,739 shares worth approximately $3.5 million.
• A variety of institutional investors also boosted their positions in Comcast, with E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increasing its stake by 95.2% and National Pension Service acquiring an additional 364,707 shares.
• Comcast announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, yielding around 3.9%, which will be paid to investors on October 22nd after a record date of October 1st.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 94.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,739 shares of the cable giant's stock after acquiring an additional 45,972 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 95.2% in the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 106,586 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $3,933,000 after buying an additional 51,970 shares during the last quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 134.6% in the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 943 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $838,000. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 8,596,019 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $317,193,000 after purchasing an additional 364,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 7,381 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CMCSA. Argus cut Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Moffett Nathanson upped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Bernstein Bank cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $35.00 in a report on Friday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.73.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded down $0.5750 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $33.3150. 13,092,699 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,278,232. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $34.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.77. Comcast Corporation has a 52-week low of $31.03 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The company has a market capitalization of $123.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The cable giant reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. Comcast had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 18.44%.The company had revenue of $30.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Comcast's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.82%.

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.