Rafferty Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Comcast Corporation $CMCSA

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 701,405 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,713 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $22,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Research & Management Inc. increased its stake in Comcast by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Research & Management Inc. now owns 139,866 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,394,000 after buying an additional 2,851 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 34.0% in the third quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 678,421 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $21,316,000 after acquiring an additional 172,100 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast in the third quarter worth approximately $354,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Comcast by 2.6% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,179,697 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $131,326,000 after purchasing an additional 106,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of Comcast by 9.8% during the third quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 1,048,228 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,935,000 after purchasing an additional 93,410 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CMCSA shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Comcast from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Bank of America raised shares of Comcast from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Comcast from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.87.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other news, CEO Michael J. Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total transaction of $1,892,549.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 622,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,325,493.76. This trade represents a 8.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Comcast Price Performance

Comcast stock opened at $30.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Comcast Corporation has a 52-week low of $25.75 and a 52-week high of $37.97. The firm has a market cap of $111.39 billion, a PE ratio of 5.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.03.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The cable giant reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.09. Comcast had a net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The company had revenue of $32.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.58%.

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.