Loudon Investment Management LLC Purchases 6,113 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Loudon Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 110,553 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,113 shares during the quarter. Comcast comprises approximately 2.4% of Loudon Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $4,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Comcast by 269.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the third quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CMCSA. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have 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 a consensus target price of $43.83.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $36.50 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The company has a market cap of $138.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.80, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.83 and a 200 day moving average of $39.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.