Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Increases Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 203,695 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,666 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $7,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Comcast during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CMCSA shares. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Ten 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.64.

Comcast Stock Down 2.0 %

CMCSA stock opened at $36.62 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $138.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.99.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.81%.

About Comcast

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.