Apella Capital LLC Purchases 1,268 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Apella Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 19.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,880 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Steph & Co. increased its holdings in Comcast by 154.6% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 611 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 336.9% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 769 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. BNP Paribas downgraded Comcast from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Comcast from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.58.

Comcast Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CMCSA stock traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $41.19. 13,697,490 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,890,191. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.43 and a fifty-two week high of $47.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.94 and its 200-day moving average is $39.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $161.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.01.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $29.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.02 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 12.46%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.80%.

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.