LifePlan Financial LLC Acquires 703 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

LifePlan Financial LLC increased its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,726 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. Comcast makes up approximately 1.1% of LifePlan Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. LifePlan Financial LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 904.0% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 15.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,161,000 after buying an additional 22,684 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in Comcast by 3.7% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $80,232,000 after acquiring an additional 68,139 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 0.7% during the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $92,331,000 after acquiring an additional 15,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,541,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.58 on Tuesday. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $36.15 and a 12 month high of $47.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $139.97 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.81 and its 200 day moving average is $40.18.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Comcast from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.33.

Insider Activity

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

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.