Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 3,013 Shares of Comcast Corporation $CMCSA

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 119,740 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,013 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $4,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the first quarter worth approximately $940,015,000. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in Comcast by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 94,217,741 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,476,635,000 after buying an additional 15,115,074 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Comcast by 1,959.3% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,228,732 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $488,140,000 after buying an additional 12,586,329 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Comcast by 724.7% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,160,649 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $374,927,000 after acquiring an additional 8,928,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 119.1% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,595,322 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $280,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,128,434 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Comcast from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Comcast from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.50 price target (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Comcast in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.06.

Comcast Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $31.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.79 billion, a PE ratio of 5.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $32.68 and its 200 day moving average is $34.09. Comcast Corporation has a twelve month low of $30.38 and a twelve month high of $45.31. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The cable giant reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $30.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.82%.

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.