Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Raises Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 401,638 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,817 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $15,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Horan Capital Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Horan Capital Advisors LLC. now owns 90,417 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,428,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Barry Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Comcast by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Barry Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,400 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its position in Comcast by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 10,822 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. M Holdings Securities Inc. increased its position in Comcast by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc. now owns 31,520 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaStar Capital Management LLC increased its position in Comcast by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 22,200 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. 82.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on CMCSA shares. Argus raised their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.88.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $46.76. 19,935,005 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,587,357. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.85 and its 200-day moving average is $40.44. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $28.39 and a 1 year high of $47.46. The company has a market capitalization of $192.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The cable giant reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $30.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.11 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 19.79%. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 4th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 3rd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.42%.

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, advertising sales, and Sky channels.