Islay Capital Management LLC Acquires 953 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Islay Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,601 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the quarter. Comcast makes up approximately 1.0% of Islay Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Islay Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 54.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Five Oceans Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 12,336 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 26,470 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $993,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities dropped 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. Bank of America cut shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank cut Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Benchmark cut their price target on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 target price on Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.08.

Comcast Trading Down 6.6 %

Comcast stock opened at $33.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. 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.