ING Groep NV Boosts Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

ING Groep NV grew its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 31.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,741,272 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 414,505 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Comcast were worth $72,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 204.7% in the 2nd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 365.4% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 177.1% in the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 812 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.75.

Comcast Trading Down 1.2 %

Comcast stock traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $43.37. The stock had a trading volume of 5,367,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,562,926. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.82. The stock has a market cap of $165.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.80, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Comcast Company 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.