GWN Securities Inc. Takes Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 10,513 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 904.0% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after acquiring an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $743,681,000. Bfsg LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 752.8% in the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 73,590 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 43,509 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,633,000 after buying an additional 3,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robinson Value Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 136.7% during the fourth quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,842,000 after buying an additional 59,107 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $35.43 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.19. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The firm has a market cap of $133.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. On average, analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Macquarie decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

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.