Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 20.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,302,829 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 216,701 shares during the period. Comcast comprises about 1.3% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $54,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Corrado Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Kalos Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 134.3% during the 1st quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 752 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 82.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Comcast in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Comcast from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.88.

Comcast Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ CMCSA traded down $0.63 during trading on Friday, reaching $45.34. 45,437,408 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,846,537. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.39 and a fifty-two week high of $47.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.02.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The cable giant reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.15. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 5.40%. The firm had revenue of $30.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 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.