Kovack Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 44.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,891 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,551 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 60,650 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,659,000 after acquiring an additional 2,781 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA raised its position in Comcast by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 1,687,406 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $73,993,000 after purchasing an additional 121,279 shares in the last quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 101,182 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,438,000 after buying an additional 1,486 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth $2,056,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 115,503 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,065,000 after buying an additional 10,936 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total value of $10,134,384.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,380,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CMCSA. Macquarie decreased their price objective on Comcast from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 13th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $55.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.53.

Comcast Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $38.05. 7,657,993 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,241,990. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.62 and its 200-day moving average is $41.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.46.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $30.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be given a $0.31 dividend. 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 is currently 32.80%.

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.