Balentine LLC Buys 2,498 Shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Balentine LLC grew its stake in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 20.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,642 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,498 shares during the quarter. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Comcast during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 126.9% in the first quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 801 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 203.4% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 895 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $34.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $128.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.95. Comcast Corporation has a 12-month low of $31.44 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.33.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The cable giant reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.82 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 19.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 32.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Comcast from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.50 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group set a $44.50 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.10.

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.