Hopwood Financial Services Inc. Acquires New Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,148 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $43,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $743,681,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Comcast by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $895,499,000 after purchasing an additional 14,369,056 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $345,565,000 after purchasing an additional 8,258,128 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Comcast by 530.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $143,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885,370 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Price Performance

Comcast stock opened at $35.19 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $36.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.26. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is 31.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

Comcast Company 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.