Rafferty Asset Management LLC Purchases 76,783 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 667,568 shares of the cable giant's stock after acquiring an additional 76,783 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Comcast were worth $25,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Comcast by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $5,317,167,000 after buying an additional 11,255,683 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth $3,835,226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $3,212,244,000 after buying an additional 1,006,272 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 79,102,667 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $2,968,723,000 after buying an additional 5,039,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 50,320,446 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,890,027,000 after buying an additional 5,402,377 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CMCSA. Barclays dropped their target price on Comcast from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Argus downgraded Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.10.

Comcast Stock Up 0.4%

Comcast stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $35.48. The stock had a trading volume of 20,639,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,964,807. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $31.44 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $34.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.47 billion, a PE ratio of 8.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.97.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The cable giant reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $29.82 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. Comcast's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Comcast

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.