Symmetry Partners LLC Buys 7,780 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Symmetry Partners LLC grew its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 16.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,291 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,780 shares during the quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 299.1% in the fourth quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 634,727 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 475,675 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Lipe & Dalton purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.87. The stock had a trading volume of 15,412,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,247,320. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.65.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $30.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.83 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.21 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 32.80%.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other Comcast news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total transaction of $10,134,384.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,000,000 shares in the company, valued at $6,380,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CMCSA. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Comcast from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.83.

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.