Optimize Financial Inc Purchases Shares of 24,555 Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Optimize Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 24,555 shares of the cable giant's stock, valued at approximately $922,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 14.8% in the third 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 last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Five Oceans Advisors raised its position in shares of Comcast by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 12,336 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Comcast by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 26,470 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Old Port Advisors grew its position in Comcast by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 6,910 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CMCSA shares. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BNP Paribas downgraded Comcast from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.50.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $33.96. The stock had a trading volume of 21,444,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,716,738. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.43. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.20 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $128.40 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. This is a boost from Comcast's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is 31.81%.

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.