Criterion Capital Advisors LLC Buys 567 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Criterion Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 54,051 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 567 shares during the quarter. Comcast comprises approximately 1.6% of Criterion Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Comcast by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 107,773,317 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,725,926,000 after buying an additional 15,625,543 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,542,988,000. Harris Associates L P boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 18,873,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $827,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854,671 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Comcast by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 15,688,650 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $687,947,000 after purchasing an additional 570,050 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Comcast by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,692,327 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $644,258,000 after buying an additional 329,278 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 2,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,380,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.16. 38,288,913 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,560,456. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $36.43 and a 12 month high of $47.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $38.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.65 billion, a PE ratio of 10.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $30.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. Comcast’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.21 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on CMCSA shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Comcast from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Macquarie decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $55.00 to $53.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.62.

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.