Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 119.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,643 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 6,328 shares during the quarter. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 54.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Down 2.1 %

CMCSA opened at $35.10 on Thursday. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $132.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.52.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp increased their price target on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

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.