First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Purchases 7,125 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 106,836 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,125 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $4,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steph & Co. increased its holdings in Comcast by 154.6% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 611 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its holdings in Comcast by 299.1% during the fourth quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 634,727 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 475,675 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $38.05. The company had a trading volume of 7,657,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,241,990. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company’s fifty day moving average is $38.58 and its 200-day moving average is $41.26. The company has a market cap of $149.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $36.43 and a one year high of $47.46.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $30.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.83 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $47.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.53.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In related news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total transaction of $10,134,384.37. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,380,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.