Empowered Funds LLC Buys 34,903 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 800,359 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,903 shares during the period. Comcast makes up 0.5% of Empowered Funds LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $33,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 158,525 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $6,622,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Comcast by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,016 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 4.1% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,304,388 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $54,484,000 after purchasing an additional 51,749 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 145.3% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 42,919 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 25,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 84,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,518,000 after buying an additional 655 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Down 0.2 %

CMCSA opened at $43.40 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $36.43 and a one year high of $47.11. The company has a market capitalization of $166.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $41.47 and its 200-day moving average is $39.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Comcast’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CMCSA. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp increased their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.75.

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.